The Silvari Adventure
by BlueVoltorb
Summary: In the Silvari region, a world where people and Pokémon live in harmony, a young boy called Luke is about to embark on an incredible journey. With his partner Pokémon Reo at his side, and the support of his best friend Elliot and the mysterious Ben, can Luke unravel the sinister plot of Team SPF and become the greatest Trainer of all time? OC fic w/ Pokémon from all 5 generations
1. Forming a Friendship

**1.**

**FORMING A FRIENDSHIP**

The sun blazes high in the Silvari sky, its heat radiating down upon the many creatures and plants that inhabit the world below. A swift yet gentle breeze ripples through the air, catching the back of my neck and soothing it pleasantly against the heat of the sun. I pause for a moment to feel its warmth against my skin, and tilt my head backward slightly to stare into the bright blue cloudless sky. The perfect day for the start of a journey, I think to myself.

After a moment to enjoy the sun, I give a reluctant sigh and lower my gaze once more, before continuing along the grassy trail that links my hometown of Tranila to the neighbouring town, Busell. This town is the home of my best friend Elliot, and it is down to his summoning me there to meet him today that sees me now strolling through the tall grass that links our two small towns together.

The heat of the morning sun continues to glare down from above, and I stop for a moment to take some rest. I remove my backpack and slump down next to a large tree stump a short way off the trail. The grass is bone dry, all the morning dew evaporated hours ago by the heat of the sun. I tilt my cap down further over my eyes, which I close, simply relaxing in the heat of the day. It isn't long before I begin to doze, my drowsiness no doubt induced by the ever-persistent heat.

A moment later, my senses are aroused by a rustling noise in the grass near me. It isn't particularly sharp, but it alerts my interest. I remain motionless with my eyes closed for the moment, until a second rustling noise, undoubtedly closer this time, sounds. Slowly, I open my eyes, and behold a truly wondrous sight.

A creature, about two feet tall, stands in the grass no more than a yard away from me. Its skin is a blue colour, with a dark blue stripe across its eyes, which are large and inquisitive. Its nose is pointed, like that of a fox, and its long ears hang down either side of its head. It is simply standing in the grass, looking at me with its inquisitive eyes. I remain motionless, awestruck. I've never been this close to a wild Pokémon before.

Pokémon are not unusual in Silvari. Many of my friends and classmates at school have Pokémon of their own, and friendly battles and sparring matches between them are common. Even Elliot has his own Pokémon, given to him as a gift by his father on his last birthday. But I don't have a Pokémon of my own. Between studying for school and taking care of mom at home, I've never found the time to go out and actually catch one.

This Pokémon, however, is something new, something I've never seen before. Most of the Pokémon I know are pretty common in these parts, particularly on this trail: Pidgey, Rattata, Spearow, Sentret, Starly… I've seen them all countless times. But this one, I have no idea what it is. It's certainly cute, there's no denying that. And it seems so bold, coming so close to a human.

I raise my head slightly to get a closer look, but this proves to be a mistake.

"Ri!" The Pokémon gives a short cry of surprise and dashes off into the distance, away from me, and into the shade of the trees on the other side of the trail.

"No, wait! Please! I won't hurt you!" I cry, getting to my feet and slinging my backpack back over my shoulder. I run after the little Pokémon, across the trail and into the trees, chasing after it. I have no Poké Balls, so there's no question of me trying to capture it. I just want to get a closer look. I've never seen this Pokémon before, and am fascinated by it.

After a while, however, my pace slows to a walk, and I sigh deeply. Looks like it got away. I was such a fool, scaring it like that. What was I thinking? If I had just let it be, I might at least have been able to find out its name…

Under the trees it is much cooler than out in the sun on the trail, and the grass is still wet with dew, which is beginning to slowly seep into my running shoes as I pace my way through the tall grass. I'm still annoyed with myself for letting that Pokémon get away before I had a chance to really get to know it. But what's done is done – there's nothing I can do about it now, and I need to accept that and focus on getting back on track and meeting up with Elliot. So why am I still pacing this forest in the vague hope that something might happen?

"Ri! Riiiiiiiii!"

I stop dead in my tracks. There's no mistaking that cry. It's the same Pokémon as before!

I whip my head from side to side, listening intently and trying to make out which direction it came from. Eventually, if I concentrate, I can hear a muffled screeching and calling and rustling noise coming from a fair distance away to my left. I turn in the direction of the noise and begin to run again, dodging left and right around trees as I head for the direction of the noise.

The cry this time does not sound as it did on the roadside before. This time it is a cry of fear. The Pokémon is in trouble, and somehow I know I have to help it if I can.

I snag my shoe in the root of a tree and tumble to the ground. My right knee scrapes against the sharp edge of a rock, tearing a hole in my jeans and cutting the skin beneath. I press my hand to the wound and feel the sting of the dew from the grass as it contacts with the gash below. But this is not the time to be worrying about myself. I pick myself up, dust myself down and begin to run again, all the time heading in the direction from which the terrified Pokémon's cries continue to issue.

Finally I come upon a clearing, and stop, beholding the scene with horror. The Pokémon I have seen earlier stands alone, in the centre of the clearing, its small paws clasped over its head. Surrounding it are at least half a dozen Spearow, flapping their wings furiously to stay airborne, and every now and then darting down and pecking furiously at the poor Pokémon in the middle. From my own experience, I know that Spearow can be a bad-tempered and vicious Pokémon, but seeing so many of them attack a lone, defenceless Pokémon like this fills me with rage.

"Hey! Knock it off!" I shout, calling to the Spearow. As one, the Spearow stop their dives, and turn in my direction. The little Pokémon in the middle remains motionless in the same stance, bracing itself against the attack, which it clearly feels will resume imminently.

"Spear? Spearow?" one of the Spearow shrieks.

"I said, leave that Pokémon alone!" I cry, picking up a nearby rock and tossing it towards the Spearow that made the noise. It flits easily out of the way and stares at me long and hard, a steely glint in its eyes.

"Spear…" it cries quietly, clearly seething with rage. I take a step back. Uh-oh, I think to myself.

"…rooooooooow!" The Spearow suddenly emits a frighteningly loud cry, and the rest of the Spearow join in, filling the clearing with a cacophony of noise. The lead Spearow darts towards me and I manage to dive out of the way just in time. The Spearow misses me and collides headlong with a tree behind where I was formerly standing, before slumping to the ground unconscious.

I have no time to savour this small victory, however, as before I know it, the rest of the Spearow have surrounded me and are pecking away at me, just as they did to the little Pokémon mere moments ago. I throw my arms up over my head as they continue to peck and tear away, ripping holes in the arms of my jacket and barely missing my face.

One particularly close dive makes me overbalance and fall to my knees. The Spearow are relentless, continuing to peck away at me, and I curl up to try and reduce the impact of their beaks.

"Riiiiiiiiio!"

I hear the sound of impact from beside me and open my eyes to see one of the Spearow swatted aside. I look in the direction of the impact and see the little Pokémon standing beside me, with a determined look in its eyes. It aims a palm strike at another Spearow and connects, sending it flying across the clearing and away from me.

By now, the other Spearow are realising that they have a more resistant foe to deal with, and are beginning to fly higher in preparation to dive bomb the little Pokémon. I look up at the Spearow, then down at the Pokémon fearfully, as the first Spearow aims its dive.

"Watch out!" I call. The Pokémon braces itself, then aims another palm strike at the incoming Spearow. Again it connects, and the Spearow is easily bashed aside. The other two Spearow look at one another, then dive down together, intending to take their opponent by surprise. But the little Pokémon deftly dodges out of the way, and both Spearow crash into the floor, before the little Pokémon launches into them and tackles them all the way out of the clearing.

For a moment there is silence. I remain in the same position for a moment, staring in wonder at the little Pokémon I thought I had scared off earlier. I had intended to save it from being attacked, but actually, as it turned out, it had saved me.

I change my stance so that I am sitting on the grass, and the little Pokémon turns to look at me, its big eyes nervous yet curious at the same time. I hold my hand out.

"Hello," I tell it. "My name's Luke." The little Pokémon looks at my hand for a moment, then back up at my face. I smile and nod, and it seems to smile too. It reaches out its paw and puts it in my hand. Its fur is smooth and soft to the touch.

"Ri! Ri!" it chirps happily.

"Thank you for saving me," I tell it gratefully.

"Rio! Ri, rio!" it continues to chirp. I think about this for a moment. Pokémon can only say their own name…

"Is that your name? Reo?" I ask it now.

"Rio!" the Pokémon replies simply, jumping up in the air out of delight. It stretches out its tongue and licks my face, making me chuckle. Its tongue is warm and tickles slightly.

"I'll take that as a yes. It's nice to meet you, Reo."

Suddenly, Reo stops. It becomes still and motionless, and a fearful look enters its eyes once more.

"Rio!" it cries, before removing its paw from my hand and dashing across the clearing and into the trees on the other side.

"No wait, don't go!" I cry pleadingly, but to no avail. Again, I sigh and slump down on the grass. I've let it get away from me again.

Then I hear a rustling noise in the trees behind me. I get to my feet and turn around to see a group of four men enter the clearing. They are all dressed very oddly, each in a matching black boiler suit with the letters SPF in gold text across the chest. The three at the back are each wearing a tall, black, cylindrical hat, and two of them carry what look like bug nets. The leader has no net and no hat, and his bright green hair spikes out in all directions. I glance at his belt and notice two Poké Balls set into it.

The lead man stops facing me, and I look up into his face. It is disapproving, as though I am a piece of dirt on his shoe.

"Out of my way, boy." His voice is nasal and unpleasant. Without warning he shoves me to the side, and I overbalance and fall to the grass behind me. The men behind him chuckle in a dopey fashion, and the leader allows himself a sly grin of his own before turning away and making to walk off.

"What was that for?" I call after them. "Where do you get off being so rude?"

The men halt once more and, as one, turn to face me. The leader moves round so that he is at the front once more, and looks down at me disapprovingly.

"You should show us some more respect, boy," he snarls.

"Well, you're not really ones to talk about respect," I retaliate, getting to my feet and scowling at the leader. "Who do you think you are, going around shoving people aside like that?"

"Who do WE think we are?" the lead man retorts incredulously. "Is that a serious question? You've got some nerve, boy, talking to us like that. But since the whole world will soon be asking the same question, I shall humour you with an answer."

The man raises his arms and looks towards the sky. "We are the Silvari Pokémon Force, or Team SPF for short. Our mission: to take all the Silvari Pokémon by Force. We make no distinction: wild Pokémon, trained Pokémon, it doesn't matter. We take them all."

"You mean you steal Pokémon from other Trainers?" I ask, disgusted.

"That's right," the man replies. He pauses, and looks down at me with an evil leer on his face. "You…have a problem with that, boy?"

"Of course I have a problem with that!" I shout, my hands balling into fists. "Stealing Pokémon from others is… Well, it's despicable!"

The four men of Team SPF laugh. "Despicable? Nice word. I am Greson of Team SPF. Despicable is my middle name." Greson leers down at me once more. "And besides, if we are going to steal other Trainers' Pokémon, what are YOU going to do about it, boy?"

I pause. If I had Pokémon of my own, then I'd teach this thug a thing or too.

But Greson doesn't wait for this response. Quick as a flash, he detaches one of the two Poké Balls from his belt and holds it up. "If you intend to defy Team SPF, then this is what happens! Go, Sandile!" he cries, hurling the Poké Ball into the air. Instinctively, I take a couple of steps back.

The Poké Ball contacts the ground and opens, and there is a blinding flash of light. When it clears, it reveals the contents of the Ball, a small, brown, crocodile-like Pokémon with black stripes across its back and black markings around its eyes. As I watch, speechless, it opens its mouth to reveal a row of sharp teeth.

"Sandile," it cries.

The members of Team SPF are now guffawing appreciatively, and Greson allows himself a chuckle at my dumbfounded expression. "So what now, boy? Are you going to try and fight back, or what?"

"I… I don't have any Pokémon…" I mumble meekly.

"What?!" Greson cries out in horror. "NO Pokémon? You're not even a Trainer?" I turn my head away slightly, embarrassed.

But Greson begins to laugh again, much harder this time. "This is ridiculous! This little pint-sized punk wants to stand up to us, but he doesn't even have any Pokémon to battle us with! What a loser!"

My anger is building once again. I'm desperate to prove I'm not a loser, desperate to battle him to prove I'm better than he gives me credit for. If only I'd had some Poké Balls, I could've caught Reo earlier when I had the chance. Heck, even one of those Spearow would do – just something to help me teach this cocky good-for-nothing a lesson.

Greson has just about calmed down by now, and looks over at me with a devilish expression on his face. "Well, if you have no Pokémon then I guess there's nothing else for it."

"So I'm free to go?" I ask hopefully.

"No, of course not! I mean I'll just have to have Sandile battle against you instead!"

"Ah!" I look at Sandile, who opens its mouth once more, showing off its sharp teeth. Though small, I don't fancy my chances against those.

"Come on then! Sandile, Bite attack!" Greson cries, sending his Pokémon into battle.

"Sandile!" Sandile narrows its eyes, opens its mouth wide and launches itself at me. I throw my hands over my face instinctively to try and protect myself and brace for impact.

"Rio!"

I remove my arms and open my eyes tentatively to see Reo standing in front of me defensively, in a battle pose of its own. A smile breaks across my face.

"Reo! Am I ever glad to see you!"

Across the clearing, Greson, Sandile and the other Team SPF members look dumbfounded. "What on Earth is that?" Greson wonders out loud. "Kid, is that…your Pokémon?"

Reo nods in response. I feel a thrill of excitement pass through my body. Did Reo just agree to be…my Pokémon?

"I thought you said you didn't have any Pokémon?" one of the Team SPF members questions me.

"I didn't when you asked," I confirm. "But Reo always shows up on time. He never lets me down." I look down at Reo and he looks up at me, and I see him smile at me once more. I smile down at him again before returning my attention to Greson and Sandile.

Greson has recovered his composure. "Well, if you do have a Pokémon, then I guess that makes things a little fairer. So, let's get this battle started properly now."

"Bring it on," I challenge. My voice is a lot braver than I feel. I've never had a Pokémon to battle with before, so I have no practice at actually battling. I don't even know what moves Reo might have, but if he's my Pokémon now, he'll be waiting for me to give him orders…

"Let's go!" Greson cries out, pointing ahead and giving Sandile the order to charge.

Come on Luke, think fast, I think to myself. If you hit him now you'll catch him off guard. Think! What kind of move can lots of Pokémon learn that Reo might be able to use?

"Reo, Tackle!" I command, picking the first move that comes into my head.

"Rio!" Reo nods, then dives at the charging Sandile. The move catches the opposing Pokémon completely unawares, and sends Sandile flying backwards across the clearing.

"What?!" Greson cries in shock. "How did you do that? Grr, Sandile, show 'em who's boss! Bite attack, now!"

"Watch out, Reo!" I call, as Sandile charges once more, teeth bared. A thought enters my head. "Endure it!"

Reo closes its arms around its body and shuts its eyes, preparing to use its Endure move. Sandile leaps and its teeth latch around Reo, who flinches slightly but does not show any real pain. Sandile leaps backward off Reo, who comes out of his stance visibly unharmed.

"Nice going, Reo!" I call in encouragement.

"How is this possible?" Greson wonders out loud. "What kind of Pokémon is this?"

"Boss! Should we get out of here?" asks one of the Team SPF members.

"And forfeit the match?!" Greson retaliates. "Never! We are the Silvari Pokémon Force! We cannot lose! We will take all the Silvari Pokémon by Force!"

Something clicks in my brain. Force. That palm strike move I saw Reo use earlier… There's only one move I can think of that looks like that.

"Go, Sandile!" Greson commands. Sandile gets to its feet once more. It looks weary, and I realise that now's our chance.

"Come on, Reo, finish it!" I call. "Force Palm!"

Reo claps his paws together and faces the charging Sandile once again. Sandile draws nearer, and at the last moment Reo reaches forward with his right paw and strikes Sandile with his palm. Sandile is sent flying across the clearing and lands in a crumpled heap at the feet of Greson, who looks on in disbelief, but has no choice but to recall his Pokémon.

"You did it, Reo!" I cry out triumphantly, and reach down to pick up the little Pokémon and hug him.

"Rio! Rio!" Reo responds happily.

"This… You… I can't…believe it…" Greson says hoarsely. After a few moments, he straightens up and speaks again, his normal manner now resumed. "You got very lucky this time, boy, but mark my words: we shall meet again, and next time, you will feel the full wrath of Team SPF!"

With that, Greson turns on his heel and runs out of the clearing, pushing past his Team SPF colleagues, who look at each other for a moment, flabbergasted, before blindly following behind.

I wait until their footsteps have faded, then set Reo down on the ground and kneel next to him. "You were brilliant, Reo," I tell him proudly. "You saved me again. Thank you."

"Riooo," Reo says quietly, nuzzling against my arm.

"You know, Reo…" I pause, nervously. "You and me, we make a pretty good team. I don't suppose… You don't want to…come with me, do you?"

"Rio!" Reo jumps on the spot, nodding vigorously.

I can't believe my luck. "Are you sure?" Reo continues to nod, bouncing happily on the spot. "Reo, you're the best!"

I pick Reo up and hug him once more. I still can't quite believe it. I've got my first Pokémon, and my first battle victory to boot. I'm now officially a Pokémon Trainer. The road to my success on the greatest stage of all has begun! Just wait until I tell Elliot…

I gasp out loud, and Reo turns to face me in surprise and concern. "Oh, no!" I say out loud. "Elliot!" I set Reo down on the ground and turn around. "Come on Reo, we have to go!"

From behind me, I feel Reo scurry up my leg to rest on my back, where he puts his paws on my shoulders to hold on tightly. I look behind me and see his face, and he smiles at me. "Rio," he chirps encouragingly.

I smile back at him. "Right. Now, let's go and meet Elliot. He's going to be really worried because of how late I am. Just wait until he sees I've got a partner Pokémon of my own now. Will he ever be surprised!"


	2. Welcome to the World of Pokémon!

**2.**

**WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF POKéMON!**

Finally, we arrive in Busell Town. Relief spreads through my body as I walk through the gates to a cheery "Good afternoon!" from one of the citizens standing nearby. I am worn out from my journey, not to mention my battle with Team SPF, and Reo, who is still clinging to my back, is panting heavily. I can tell he is just as tired as I am.

"All right, Reo," I tell him. "We need to go and meet my friend Elliot. But first, let's head to the Pokémon Center and get you rested up, OK?"

"Rio…" Reo chirps quietly.

The Pokémon Center is located right in the middle of town, a large structure with a bright red roof. I've seen it dozens of times from all my trips to the town to meet Elliot, but have never actually set foot inside. I feel an excited shiver pass down my spine as I step through the sliding doors and into the spacious, air-conditioned interior of the building.

Though it is my first time, I am confident of what to do. At school I took extra classes in Pokémon training, hoping to eventually become a Trainer myself, so I know how to get my Pokémon healed. I proceed immediately over to the counter directly opposite me, beneath the extended balcony of the upper floor. I clear my throat and the nurse behind the desk, whose long pink hair is tied in a bow behind her head, turns to face me.

"Hi," I say to her. "Can you heal my Pokémon, please?"

"Of course," is the nurse's reply. "Just give us your Poké Balls and I'll put them on the machine here. They'll be back to their full strength in no time."

"…Poké Balls?" I say uncertainly. "I only have one Pokémon, and I didn't have a Poké Ball to catch it with." I remove Reo from my back and place him on the counter, where he looks at the nurse uncertainly.

"Oh, how unusual!" the nurse says with some excitement. "I haven't seen this Pokémon before! What kind of Pokémon is it?"

"Um, I don't actually know…" I reply, feeling more and more stupid by the minute. "His name is Reo, though."

"Rio," Reo says to the nurse in what seems like a welcoming tone, though his voice is still tired.

The nurse chuckles. "It's nice to meet you, Reo," she says, holding out her hand for Reo to shake, which he does. The nurse turns to me. "I'll need to put him in a Poké Ball for a moment so I can heal him. Here, you can borrow this one." She reaches behind her and picks up a spare Poké Ball off her desk, which she hands to me.

"Thank you," I say gratefully. "OK Reo, come inside so you can get healed." Reo nods, clearly happy for the chance to get some rest, and I press the button on the centre of the ball. The Poké Ball opens and a red light emerges, which engulfs Reo and pulls him back into the safety of the ball.

I hand the Poké Ball to the nurse. "Thank you," she says. "By the way, if you're planning on catching any more Pokémon, you'll probably want to buy some more Poké Balls from the store counter over there." She points, and I turn to behold another counter, blue this time, over in the corner of the Pokémon Center.

"I'll do that," I tell her. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," she replies with a smile. "I'll have your Pokémon healed in no time, so just wait around here and I'll call you over when he's done." With this she turns away and heads through a door behind the counter with my one and only Pokémon, off to take him to the machine that will restore him to full health.

With Reo being healed, I decide to heed the nurse's advice and head over to the store counter in the corner of the Pokémon Center. The cashier smiles in a friendly way when I near her. "Welcome," she says. "How may I help you today?"

"Hi, can I get…uh…five Poké Balls, and a couple of Potions, please?"

"Sure thing." The cashier reaches behind her and extracts my merchandise, and I hand over the required money in exchange for them. I place my Poké Balls and Potions into my bag, excited about the prospect of adding more Pokémon to my team.

With no word on how Reo is doing, I head for one of the chairs at the side of the room to take a seat while I wait for him to be healed. As I do so, I look around the Center. It's pretty quiet at this time of the day, with only a couple other people wandering around. As I look, I notice someone sitting on the opposite side of the room who immediately catches my attention.

This guy looks maybe three or four years older than me, and has piercing brown eyes and dark brown hair to match. He is dressed in a shirt and jeans, and a long black leather coat that extends down to the floor. His striking appearance is made even more intriguing by the fact that he is staring right at me, sitting motionless, and gazing over at me with those all-seeing eyes. I return the stare interestedly and a little fearfully, and wonder who he is.

"Mister Ben, your Pokémon are ready to go," calls the nurse from behind the counter.

The guy breaks his gaze from me and rises to his feet, before heading over to the counter. The nurse hands over five Poké Balls and the guy takes them and clips them onto his belt.

"Thank you," he murmurs, before turning on his heel and heading for the door. As he walks across the room, however, his gaze turns once more to fix on me, and again I return his stare. It isn't long, though, before he steps out through the sliding doors and into the sunshine, and is gone from my field of vision.

Despite his leaving, I still remain intrigued by the guy. He's obviously a Trainer, and something about him gives me a sense that he is a powerful one, too. Excitement bubbles in my veins as I think about the prospect of someday battling a Trainer like that. But first things first, I tell myself. I'll have to get much stronger myself, first.

"Rio! Rio!"

The cry comes from over at the counter, and it snaps me back to reality. I turn my head in its direction and smile as I see my Pokémon jump down and dash towards me. Reo reaches me and leaps into my lap, where I hug him tightly.

"Hey, little buddy," I chuckle. "Feeling better now?"

"Rio!" is the happy response, as he licks my face.

I laugh once more and stand up, pausing to allow Reo to climb onto my back once more. I head over to the counter to speak to the nurse, who is also smiling. "Thank you," I say to her."

"Don't mention it," she replies. "Here, you should keep this Poké Ball. You'll need it the next time you come and see us." I accept it from her and clip it onto my own belt, nodding in thanks.

"You know," the nurse continues, "you two look like you're already great friends. That's the most important thing about Pokémon. You can battle until you drop, but if you don't have a good relationship with your Pokémon, if you don't trust them and they don't trust you, nothing good will come of that." She smiles at me again. "But it seems I'm preaching to the converted. You two enjoy the rest of your day."

"We will," I promise. "Thanks for everything." The nurse curtseys and waves as I turn and head out of the Pokémon Center, Reo still attached to my back, and every now and then chirping happily.

"OK Reo, let's go and meet Elliot," I say to him.

"Rio!" is my partner's simple response.

Elliot's house is on the outskirts of the town, next to a small lake surrounded by trees. It's a pretty picturesque spot frequented by many different types of Pokémon, and I know that Elliot often remarks that it's the perfect training spot for him and his partner.

I knock on the door, and after a moment it is answered by my best friend, Elliot. As usual, Elliot is dressed in white, with a white button-up shirt and white jeans, finished off with a pair of white running shoes with a red stripe. Even his hair is white, and cut short. I often joke that he looks like he's come out of a black and white videogame. His prize Pokémon is concealed within the blue Great Ball clipped onto his belt – Elliot has made it widely known at school that his Pokémon is rare and tricky to capture.

"Luke!" Elliot cries as soon as he sees me. "What kept you? You said you'd be here, like, three hours ago!" His eyes scan me, and I realise that my jacket and jeans are still bearing the scars of my encounter with the Spearow gang back in the forest. "Hey, you're messed up pretty bad. What happened to you?"

Reo sticks his head around from behind my neck to behold Elliot curiously. "Rio?" he squeaks.

Elliot's mouth drops open in surprise, and his face lights up. "Whoa! Luke, is that…a Pokémon?!"

"Sure is," I say proudly, detaching Reo from my back and holding him in my arms so Elliot can get a proper look. "This is my new friend, Reo. Reo, this is Elliot."

"Rio!" Reo squeaks happily, and leans up to lick Elliot's face. Elliot laughs.

"Hey, nice to meet you, buddy." Elliot grins at me. "Wow, that sure is impressive, Luke. I mean, for you to catch your first Pokémon is pretty something. But this one, I mean, I've never seen it before, not even in books, so it must be pretty rare."

I smile proudly. "Well, rare or not, he's my partner Pokémon now. We've already won our first battle together."

Elliot's eyebrows raise in surprise. "For real? No wonder you took so long to get here!" Elliot's face breaks into a mischievous smile. "So… If you've already won your first battle, what say you and Reo face off against me and Molly, and we'll see who's the better Trainer?"

"Sounds good to me!" I say enthusiastically. A battle with my best friend is something I've always dreamed of.

"Come on then," Elliot says, stepping out of his house. "We'll go around the corner. That way we'll be out of the way, and our Pokémon can go as wild as they want."

A moment later, Elliot and I are standing beyond the small lake just outside of the forest, a fair distance apart. Reo is standing on the grass in front of me in its battle stance. Elliot is just now detaching his Great Ball from his belt.

"Don't think I'll go easy on you just 'cause you're new to this," he calls.

"Don't think I'll go easy on YOU just because you're my friend," I retaliate.

Elliot laughs. "Good. Let's see who's the better Trainer then." Elliot throws his Great Ball up into the air. "Go, Molly!"

Elliot's Great Ball hits the grass and explodes in a bright flash of light. When the light clears, Elliot's beloved Pokémon, Molly, is hovering in the air just in front of him. Like Elliot himself, Molly's small body is almost completely white, with yellow wing-like flaps attached to its arms and a black tail. Its ears, which sit atop its head, are also black, and it has a circular yellow patch on each cheek. The scientific name for this species of Pokémon is Emolga, but to Elliot, this one will always be his Molly.

"Ready?" Elliot calls.

"You bet!" I reply.

"Rio!" Reo chips in.

"Then let's go!" Elliot cries out, pointing ahead of him. "Molly, kick things off with a ThunderShock!"

"Emolga!" Molly starts to swoop towards Reo, who eyes the incoming Pokémon carefully. At the last second, he dives out of the way, and Molly, caught unawares, collides with the ground.

"Nice one, Reo!" I call encouragingly. "Now Tackle it!"

Reo's tackle sends Molly reeling across the grass about two feet away from the impact. It regains its composure and takes off again, hovering several feet above the ground.

"Molly, try a ThunderShock from there!" Elliot calls.

Molly's cheeks glow brightly for a moment, before it unleashes a powerful jolt of electricity straight at Reo. Reo is unable to dodge, and the powerful shock sends him flying backwards and almost into the lake.

"Reo!" I call out. "Are you all right?"

"Ri…o…" Reo gets to his feet unsteadily, the shock having left visible marks on his fur.

"Hit him again, Molly!"

Another ThunderShock blasts from the hovering Molly, and again contacts Reo, this time zapping around him and dropping him to the floor again. His little body is now blackened with scorch marks from the electric shocks, and I look on desperately as Reo struggles to get to his feet once more.

"That's it Molly! Now, take him down with a Quick Attack!"

"Reo, Endure it!" I call out, knowing my little partner can't take much more.

But Reo hears my words. "Rio…" He wraps his arms around his body and closes his eyes as Molly swoops in to attack. Molly's attack collides with Reo, but Reo resists the impact, and both Pokémon are sent backwards into the lake.

"Your little Pokémon's pretty tough," Elliot commends me.

"Thanks," I say with a grin. "So's yours."

"Yeah, but mine's tougher," Elliot insists as both Pokémon surface. "Come on then Molly, let's end this! ThunderShock it one last time!"

My eyes widen as I behold the situation. Water conducts electricity.

"Reo, get out of there, quickly!" I cry out in horror.

Reo senses my desperation, and comes to the same conclusion. Within a flash he has jumped up and thrown himself onto the bank, just as Molly's cheeks begin to crackle with electricity once more. But the electrical charge is too powerful, and the whole of the lake becomes charged. Molly, whose body is saturated with water, becomes a victim of her own attack and is zapped, until finally the charge dies down, leaving Molly floating on the surface of the lake, clearly knocked out.

"Molly!" Elliot cries. Abandoning all other thoughts but concern for his Pokémon, he runs across and dives into the lake, where he swims over to his Pokémon and cradles her in his arms. Elliot swims back to the bank and I run across to help him out of the water, with Elliot not taking his eyes off of Molly the whole time.

Eventually, the little squirrel Pokémon stirs, and opens its eyes slowly. "E…mol…" it croaks feebly.

"Molly! Am I ever glad you're OK!" Elliot cries out in relief, hugging his Pokémon tightly. When he finally releases her, Molly seems to have a little more of her strength returned. A small spark issues from her right cheek as she lies in Elliot's arms.

Elliot looks up at me. "You're really strong already, Luke," he says to me. "That was a great battle."

"It's a shame it had to end like this," I say, looking with concern at Molly, still lying in Elliot's arms, but beginning to breathe more forcefully now, which I am encouraged to see.

"Ah, it was my fault. I got so caught up in the moment that I didn't think about what I was doing," Elliot says. "That's the mark of a rookie Trainer, I guess."

"Well now, what have we here?"

A voice interrupts our conversation, and we both turn in the direction from which it came. On the other side of the lake, walking around to meet us, is an old man, dressed in a lab coat, with an angular face and grey hair. He smiles as he draws close. "Two fine young Pokémon Trainers, it would seem. Would you mind telling me your names?"

"I'm Luke, and this is my friend Elliot," I reply. "Who are you?"

"I am Professor Oak of Pallet Town in the Kanto region," the man says, nodding at us. "I'm here in Silvari on a research trip to find out what kinds of Pokémon live in this region."

"Hold on, I've heard of you," Elliot says, frowning. "Professor Oak of Pallet Town… Aren't you the original Pokémon Professor? The man who's dedicated his life to the study of Pokémon around the world?"

Professor Oak laughs. "Am I that famous?" he asks humbly. "Well, either way, it seems like you know why I am here. I have a proposition for you two. How would you like to help me out?"

"Help you?" I repeat, intrigued. "How can we do that?"

Professor Oak reaches into the pocket of his lab coat and extracts two small, red and black devices with a screen covering the top three quarters and a white button at the bottom. He hands one each to Elliot and me.

"This is the latest version of my invention, the Pokédex," he tells us. "The Pokédex device is something of a cataloguing system for Pokémon. Each time you meet a Pokémon, its data will be entered into the Pokédex. This helps me to find out what kinds of Pokémon might be found here, in Silvari."

"But what do you want us to use it for?" I ask, confused.

"Isn't it obvious?" Professor Oak asks with a chuckle. "I want you to travel around Silvari for me and find out all the kinds of Pokémon that live here."

Me and Elliot exchange speechless looks. "You'd entrust something that important…to us?" Elliot asks eventually, in disbelief.

"You are Pokémon Trainers, are you not? And from what I saw of your battle, you certainly seem to have a good relationship with Pokémon. Your Emolga and your Riolu seem to adore you."

"Riolu?" I repeat, turning to Reo. "So, that's what kind of Pokémon you are?"

"Rio!" Reo chirps happily, nodding his head.

"That Riolu is a rare Pokémon indeed," Professor Oak says to me, somewhat seriously. "Riolu have an extraordinary power. They can sense the aura of people around them, and will place their trust only in those who they sense to have a good heart. Your Riolu must trust you immensely, to be so close to you."

I look at Reo with pride, happy beyond words that he chose me to be his Trainer, and that he knows I can be trusted. Reo looks back at me happily, showing no signs of breaking his promise to be my partner.

"So, will you do this task for me, Elliot and Luke?" Professor Oak asks.

"Yes, of course we will," I respond, and Elliot nods his consent beside me.

"Excellent! Well then, in that case I'd better let you two be getting on your way. Good luck, young Trainers, and remember: trust your Pokémon, and there is no obstacle you cannot overcome." With that, he gives a wave and turns to walk away. Me and Elliot wave back for a moment before turning to look at one another.

"So, we're off to see the world," I say to him in excitement.

"And along the way, we're bound to become better Trainers," Elliot says. "We'll catch more Pokémon and battle lots of opponents, and one day, we'll have another battle, Luke." Elliot holds out his hand, and I look at it for a moment, before smiling and shaking it.

"That's a deal," I say to him, and we exchange a brief look. We're rivals now, and we both know it. I loose Elliot's hand and bend down to pick Reo up in my arms. "Come on, Reo," I say to him. "There's one last thing we need to do before we can get going on our journey."

"What's that?" Elliot asks. As I begin to walk away, I call the answer back to him:

"I have to say goodbye to mom."


	3. The Road to Greatness

**3.**

**THE ROAD TO GREATNESS**

"Oh Luke, I'm so proud of you, honey!"

My mom's embrace is tight and crushing, and I fight to break it whilst trying to hug her back at the same time. Eventually she releases me and holds me at arm's length, surveying my appearance with a tear-stained face bearing an expression of sheer pride.

"Look at you, fourteen years old, and so grown up, already off to start your Pokémon journey." She pulls me back into the hug. "I'm so proud of you."

"You've already said that," I mumble, my voice muffled by mom's shoulder.

"Rio…" Reo offers from beside my feet.

I manage to prise my mom off me and she looks at me happily for a moment, before her expression suddenly grows more serious.

"Why, Luke! Look at your jacket! It's completely ruined! What on Earth have you been doing?"

"Um, I got into a bit of trouble with a bunch of Spearow…" I mumble, not meeting her eye.

"Why, that sounds really dangerous, honey!" mom cries, aghast. "Are you sure you're brave and strong enough to be going on a journey like this?"

I smile at her. "Mom, you just said yourself how grown up I am now, and how you're so proud of me for wanting to do this. Make up your mind already, will you?"

Mom's face softens, and she lets out a short laugh. "I'm sorry, honey. I'm your mom. I'm supposed to worry about you."

"I'm fine, mom, honest." I bend down and pick Reo up in my arms, and he licks my face contentedly. "With Reo at my side, no obstacle will stop me from realising my dream and becoming the greatest Pokémon Trainer in Silvari," I tell her confidently.

"Well, if you say so, then I believe in you, honey," mom says with a smile. "But if you insist on leaving, surely you can spend one more night here with your old mom? All the Pokémon in the world aren't going to disappear if you wait until tomorrow to start out."

I take a look around the room, and realise how much I'll miss this place when I leave. No matter how far I travel, I tell myself, Tranila Town will always be my home, and I know I can always come back here if anything happens. With this thought in mind, I nod at my mother and simply say "OK."

The next morning, I am woken early by Reo licking my face. I yawn and stretch widely, looking around my bedroom for the final time. After I dress myself in a fresh set of clothes, including a new pair of jeans and jacket that do not bear the scars of my trek through the woods, I head downstairs, kiss my mother goodbye, and make to leave my house for the final time.

"Wait, Luke!"

I turn around. My mom has gotten up and is walking over to me, carrying something in her right hand. "Before you go, I just want to give you this."

She hands me a device similar in appearance to the Pokédex I got from Professor Oak: red and black with a large screen. This one, however, has more buttons, plus a speaker in the top and a small microphone slot at the bottom.

"It's a Xtransciever," mom explains. "Kind of like a fancy telephone. That way I'll be able to call you and keep in touch wherever you are, and you can call me if you need anything."

I smile gratefully back at her. "Thanks, mom." With one final kiss goodbye I step out and close the front door behind me, ready to begin my journey.

I look down at Reo, who today has chosen to walk beside me as opposed to riding on my back. "Just me and you now, buddy," I tell him.

"Rio! Rio!" he chirps back happily, and I can tell that he is just as excited about the prospect of going on this adventure as I am.

It only takes us an hour or so to reach Busell Town today, thanks to the fortunate lack of appearance of a flock of angry Spearow or a bunch of strange men in black uniforms. Nevertheless, both Reo and I are hungry, having not eaten before we left the house this morning, and so I decide to stop off at the Pokémon Center so that we can eat.

As Reo and I enjoy a meal in the cafeteria area of the Center, my eyes are distracted by the two kids at the table next to us. They are both fairly young, and both seem to be holding small cards with pictures on them, which they are discussing excitedly.

"Wow! That's the super-rare Arko card!" one of the kids, a young male, is saying to his friend, who looks to be slightly older than him. "That's the rarest of all the Gym Leader trading cards! Where did you get that, Kenny?"

"My big brother gave it to me," Kenny says to his friend smugly. "He says that one day he's gonna beat Arko and become the new Pokémon League Champion."

"Really?" Kenny's friend replies, clearly in awe of this prospect. "That's so cool… Has he gone on his journey already then?"

"Yup, he left last week heading for Bolderoll City," says Kenny. "He's already on his way to earning his first Gym Badge."

"Man, Arko looks so cool… Hey, you wanna trade him for three Tony cards?"

"No way!" Kenny protests, pulling his prized possession away from his friend. "I've got loads of Tony, I don't need any more of him."

As Kenny's friend is about to protest, there is a call from the other side of the room: the boys' parents are ready to leave. The two kids get up and run over to them, but as he is leaving, I notice Kenny drop his Arko card. I wait for a moment, but he does not return for it, so I stand up and walk over to where the two kids were sitting, bend down and pick up the card, where I pause for a moment to examine the figure depicted upon it.

Arko is a bizarre-looking man to say the least. He is dressed in a tight white top with buckles hanging off it that almost looks like a straitjacket. His arms are stretched out and he has a huge grin on his face. Across each of his eyes is a vertical strip of black face paint, giving him the appearance of maybe a harlequin, or some kind of mime. And to top it off, his hair is formed into a huge spiral atop his head, and is coloured all the colours of the rainbow. I raise my eyebrows slightly. THIS is the current Champion of the Pokémon League?

"Hey, big guy…" I look away from Arko and see Kenny standing at my feet, looking up at me nervously. "Could I…have my Arko card back, please?"

I smile and hand it over. "Sure thing." Kenny smiles back at me before running off to join his friend, and I watch him go before walking back to my seat, pondering.

To become the Champion of the Pokémon League, a Trainer must first defeat the eight Gym Leaders of the Silvari region, who are spread out across eight different cities all over the region. Then, he or she has to journey to the Pokémon League itself, right in the very centre of the region, defeat the Elite Four in succession, before finally earning the right to face the Champion. Only by winning all those battles can a Trainer become the Champion of the Pokémon League and be recognised as a true master Trainer.

I think to myself. Do I have the potential to become the Pokémon League Champion? I'd never even thought about it before now. Professor Oak wanted me to journey across the region and collect data on lots of different Pokémon, right? So surely there couldn't be any harm in at least facing off against a couple of the Gym Leaders in the towns I came to…

"Rio?"

I jump and snap out of my trance. Reo is standing on the table, his bowl of food empty, and looking at me in concern. I smile to reassure him that I'm OK, and he licks my face. I stand up and pick him up in my arms.

"Reo, what do you think about taking the Pokémon Gym Challenge?" I ask him. "We'll get to battle against lots of tough Trainers and travel all across the region, and maybe even make it into the Pokémon League someday. Do you think you're up for it?"

Reo ponders for a moment, then eventually a big smile crosses his face. "Rio!" he chirps, and nods vigorously.

"Really? All right!" I respond happily, hugging him tightly. "In that case, we'd better get going. Bolderoll City is the closest place with a Gym, and if my memory serves me, we can get there by following the trail leading north out of town."

In no time at all, we find ourselves on that very same trail. Much like the trail leading from Tranila Town to Busell Town, the trail is well-worn, with patches of grass either side which make good habitats for Pokémon, and a dense forest lining the route. Reo has taken up his favourite position on my back, and as we walk, we discuss excitedly the prospect of having our first Gym battle.

We have been walking along the trail for about half an hour when we come to a split in the path. I stop for a moment. "Uh-oh," I wonder out loud. "Which way do we go?"

"Ri!" Reo chirps, pointing at something. I look ahead and see a sign stuck in the ground at the point at which the path forks.

"Oh, right…" I say, feeling a little stupid. We cross over to the sign and I stoop down to read it; Reo jumps down from my back to look around inquisitively. The sign states that the left fork in the path leads to Gaver City, while the right leads to Bolderoll City. I point to the sign indicating right. "That's where we want to go. Come on, Reo."

Reo stands motionless on the path, its ears perked. "Reo? What's the matter?" I ask, but Reo does not respond.

After a moment, I hear a rustling noise, and see one of the nearby trees shake slightly. I walk around to it, and up in the top branches, I notice with a thrill of excitement a small bird Pokémon, black and white in colour with a small orange beak. Now that's a Pokémon I recognise.

"A Starly!" I cry in excitement, withdrawing my Pokédex and holding it up to the Pokémon.

"Starly," the Pokédex declares in its mechanical voice. "The Starling Pokémon. They usually flock in great numbers, and are barely noticeable when alone. Though small, they flap their wings with great power."

"Well, we've found ourselves a lone one," I say excitedly to Reo. "This must be our lucky day. Time to see if we can make our first capture. You ready for battle, Reo?"

"Ri!" Reo says sharply, adopting its battle stance.

I straighten up. "Hey Starly!" I call to the Pokémon. "Down here!"

The bird Pokémon turns around at the noise, clearly affronted at having been distracted from whatever it was doing. When it spies Reo, its mood worsens.

"Star!" it cries sharply, and takes off into the air. "Staaaaaar!" The bird Pokémon dives at Reo, who stands still, ready to strike.

"Now, Reo!" I cry as Starly draws close. "Use your Force Palm attack!"

"Riiiiiiiiiiiio!" Reo cries out, lashing out with his paw right at Starly, who is taken totally by surprise. The paw connects with Starly's chest, and the bird is sent spiralling away, crashing into the trunk of the tree it was formerly resting in. The Pokémon slides down the tree's trunk and comes to rest in a crumpled heap at the bottom.

Now's my chance, I think to myself, and without any hesitation I pull one of the Poké Balls I bought yesterday out of my bag.

"Poké Ball…go!" I cry, tossing the ball at the Pokémon. The ball connects with Starly's underbelly and opens, engulfing the Pokémon in red light. Starly is drawn into the ball which falls to the floor and wobbles a few times. I watch it tensely, hoping with all my heart that it stays in. Come on Starly, I think to myself.

After what seems like an eternity, the ball finally becomes still. I pause. Have I…really just caught my first Pokémon?

"YES!" I cry in delight, jumping and punching the air. "We did it!" I turn to my partner. "You were awesome, Reo."

"Ri!" Reo cries, clearly as happy as I am.

I cross over to where the ball landed and pick it up to admire it more closely. "And now we have a brand new partner for our Pokémon team," I summarise happily. "Let's bring him out to say hello!"

I hurl the Poké Ball into the sky and watch as it falls to the ground. With a burst of light my new Starly is released, and immediately it slumps to the floor, exhausted after its battle.

I have a Potion ready in my hand and I spray it onto Starly, who ruffles its feathers and gets up.

"Hiya Starly," I say to it. "Welcome to the team!"

"Ri," Reo says soothingly, stroking Starly's wing to show there're no hard feelings between them. Starly looks at Reo, then back to me, and its eyes fill with joy.

"Starly!" it cries out, and begins to hover happily. I examine it further and notice that the white mark on its head is relatively small compared to some of the others I've seen that my friends had caught and showed off at school. From what I remember, female Starly have smaller white markings than males, so it looks like I have, in fact, got myself a female Starly.

"All right Starly, go back into the Poké Ball for now. I'll let you know if I need you," I tell Starly, holding up its Poké Ball and pressing the button in the middle. Starly returns inside the Poké Ball and I turn once more to Reo. "I wonder if there're any other Pokémon around here for us to catch?" I ask him.

As if in answer to my question, I hear another noise behind me. I turn and behold a small raccoon Pokémon with spiked fur in alternating light and dark brown. Like Reo it has a dark marking around its eyes. It is standing in the grass near us, watching us carefully.

"Cool, another Pokémon!" I cry, withdrawing my Pokédex once more and holding it up to scan this new creature.

"Zigzagoon. The TinyRaccoon Pokémon. It always walks in a zigzag fashion, and is good at finding items in the grass and even in the ground."

"Good at finding items, eh?" I summarise out loud. "A Pokémon like that would be really useful to have on my team. OK Reo, let's get it!"

"Rio!" Reo is ready, and begins to move quickly towards his new opponent. Zigzagoon remains motionless, simply watching Reo draw closer.

"OK Reo, Tackle it!" I command. Reo dives towards Zigzagoon, but at the last minute, the Pokémon dodges out of the way, before hitting back with a tackle of its own. Reo is sent backwards, slightly taken aback, but it gets to its feet quickly, still ready for more. Zigzagoon hunkers down and prepares for another tackle.

"Be ready for it, Reo, and hit it with a Force Palm when it charges!"

Reo does just that, and strikes out just as Zigzagoon draws near. Like Starly, Zigzagoon is sent flying backwards and crumples into a heap in the grass, knocked out.

"All right," I say, reaching into my bag for another Poké Ball, but by the time I straighten up, ready to toss it at the Pokémon, several other Zigzagoon have emerged from the trees and surrounded their wounded compatriot. As I watch, they pick the knocked out Zigzagoon up and carry it away, with the final one giving a swift Tail Whip to Reo as it passes. Reo stumbles backward and I hurry over to him to make sure he's all right.

From behind us, I hear what sounds like a chuckling noise. "Mank, mank, mank…" I turn around and see a small furry ball of a Pokémon hanging from one of the trees that line the road. It has two long arms, two long legs and a long tail, narrow angry eyes and a pig-like nose, and it is simply swinging from the tree, laughing at us.

"What a rude Pokémon," I say, extracting my Pokédex for more information.

"Mankey. The Pig Monkey Pokémon. An agile Pokémon that lives in trees. It angers easily and will not hesitate to attack anything."

Mankey, I think to myself. That's a Fighting-type Pokémon, isn't it? In that case, I should have an advantage.

"Reo, you rest up," I tell my partner, unclipping Starly's Poké Ball from my belt. "Let's let Starly handle this one!" I cry, throwing the Poké Ball up. It opens to reveal my new Flying-type Pokémon.

"Starly!" cries the bird as it circles high overhead.

"All right Starly, let's get down to business!" I call up to her. "Knock that Mankey out of that tree with your Quick Attack!"

Starly obediently begins to dive at Mankey at colossal speed, and Mankey, who is still busy laughing at us, doesn't notice until the last second. Starly collides with Mankey and succeeds in knocking it down to ground level.

"Way to go, Starly!" I call. "Now hit it with a Wing Attack!"

Starly turns and heads back towards Mankey, who is still dazed from the fall out of the tree. As she nears it, Starly spreads her wings wide and slaps Mankey, once with each wing, leaving it reeling on the spot.

This time I'm ready. "Poké Ball, go!" I hurl the Poké Ball I had out for Zigzagoon at Mankey, and it is engulfed in the usual red light. The ball drops to the ground and wobbles a couple of times, as I watch on intently.

But Mankey is more resilient than Starly, and a moment later the ball bursts open and Mankey escapes, looking more ticked off than ever.

"Mank…" it says angrily.

"Starly, try a…" I begin, but I don't get a chance to finish. Within a moment the angry Mankey leaps at me, landing on my head, then jumps off, giving me a thwack with its tail for good measure, before swinging away through the trees and out of sight. I've lost another one.

I sigh and collapse onto the ground in disappointment. Of my first three wild Pokémon encounters, I only managed to catch one. What kind of Trainer does that make me? Not a very good one, I'm sure.

Starly lands on my left shoulder and nuzzles her head against my cheek. "Starly," she chirps in a consoling manner.

"You're right," I say, getting to my feet more confidently. "There's no point fretting about it. I'll just have to think more carefully about what tactics we use next time." I turn to Starly. "You did great, Starly. Return." My Flying Pokémon returns to its Poké Ball as I turn to Reo.

"Come on Reo," I say, and my partner climbs up onto my back as normal. "I'm bored of this spot. Let's get back on track and head for Bolderoll City, all right?"

"Rio!" Reo says, licking my cheek.

By the time we reach the end of the trail, it is much later in the day, and we emerge from the tree-lined road to a glorious sight. The city of Bolderoll stretches out below us, set in a huge crater against a rocky backdrop. The sun is just beginning to set, filling the sky with a warm orange light. For a moment I pause to take in the beauty of the scene.

"So, we meet at last, Luke Norton of Tranila Town."

A voice behind me makes me jump. I whirl around but don't see anyone. "Who's there?" I call out, trying to hide the fear in my voice.

A figure emerges from the shadows, and as he nears me I suddenly recognise him. It's the same guy who I saw in the Pokémon Center at Busell Town, the guy who was watching me from across the room.

"You!" I say in surprise. "I've seen you before. You were at the Pokémon Center back in town…" I rack my brains. The nurse had said his name out loud… "Ben, wasn't it?"

Ben nods once. "That's correct. I've been watching you for some time now, Luke."

"You've been watching me?" I repeat, and this time the fear does permeate into my speech. "Why?"

"Just out of curiosity," Ben replies with a casual flick of his hand. "I saw you come into the Pokémon Center with that Riolu of yours, and it got me intrigued. Quite an unusual choice of starter Pokémon, if I may say so."

"Reo wasn't exactly my…"

"Yes, I know. You battled together against the goons in black, correct?"

I take a step backwards, visibly taken aback. "How do you know about that?"

A faint flicker of a smile passes across Ben's face. "Psychic powers," he says simply. "It's a talent that I have always possessed."

"Who are you?" I ask now, wanting to know more.

"I am merely a humble Pokémon Trainer, like yourself," is the response.

"No you're not," I say, frowning. "There's something different about you. I can tell just by looking at you, you're something out of the ordinary."

Ben's smile grows wider. "Well, you are a perceptive one," he says in amusement. "Perhaps there is. Perhaps not. If you wish to find out…"

"If I battle you, will you tell me then?" I challenge.

Ben looks at me, his smile growing yet wider. "You're challenging me?" he repeats. "I thought you could only dream of battling a Trainer of my strength?"

I recoil slightly, embarrassed that he saw this thought in my mind as well. "I might as well try," I mumble.

"Very well. If that is what you wish," Ben says, almost with a sigh as he detaches a Poké Ball from his belt and steps backward, his long black coat blowing around in the breeze.

I remove Reo from my back. "Come on, Reo. You've got this," I tell my partner. Reo does not look so convinced. He steps forward, but his usual confident battle stance is absent.

"I thought you'd use him. In that case…" Ben throws his Poké Ball forward, and it opens to reveal a pink, four-legged Pokémon with long, pointed ears and a forked tail. A red jewel is set into its head between its large, all-seeing eyes. It emits an aura of majesty, and for a moment I am spellbound by it.

"What in the world is that…" I wonder out loud. I finally come to my senses and extract my Pokédex, holding it up to the Pokémon for more information.

"Espeon. The Sun Pokémon. One of the evolved forms of Eevee. It uses the fine hair that covers its body to sense air currents and predict its enemy's actions."

"Espeon…" the Pokémon murmurs in a voice as majestic as its looks. Even Reo looks entranced by its beauty.

"Espeon?" Ben's voice rings out, and my attention is diverted momentarily to him. "You know what to do."

"Espe…" Espeon closes its eyes, and the jewel on its head glows brightly.

Suddenly, Reo falls to the floor, its paws clutching its head in agony, its eyes screwed up in pain.

"Reo!" I cry out, kneeling beside my Pokémon. "What's going on? What's it doing?"

"Espeon's Psychic attack," Ben replies simply.

I look down at my little partner desperately, in so much pain it can't even move. There's no hope of even fighting back.

I turn my attention to Ben. "Call off the attack," I plead. "Please, I can't take it. I forfeit the match."

"Espeon, stop," Ben commands, and Espeon opens its eyes, the glow from its jewel reduced. Reo removes his paws from around his skull and collapses onto the floor, panting heavily. I pick him up in my arms.

"I'm sorry, Reo," I say. "I won't ever do that to you again."

"You care deeply for your Pokémon," Ben summarises, and I look up at him again, Espeon standing majestically in front of him. "That is…rare to see nowadays. Most Trainers just use Pokémon as tools for battling. It is…good to see that there are still compassionate Trainers in the world."

With that, the mysterious Trainer clicks his fingers, calling Espeon to his heel, and the pair of them stroll away into the gathering dusk, where they disappear.

"Ri…o…"

My attention is diverted back to the weak Pokémon in my arms. "Come on, Reo," I say, turning in the direction of Bolderoll City. "We'll get you healed up. You'll be back to normal in no time…"

As we descend the steep, rocky slope into Bolderoll City, my mind drifts back to the strange and powerful Trainer I had been so foolish to challenge. Yet even with such a convincing victory, he had praise for me. I look down at Reo once more. Is our relationship really that strange?

It seems there are more mysteries to the world of Pokémon than I had first anticipated…


	4. A Rock 'n' Roll Gym Battle!

**4.**

**A ROCK 'N' ROLL GYM BATTLE!**

I awake the next morning to a bleeping, ringing noise emanating from the small table beside my bed. I open my eyes blearily and reach over to investigate. When I pick the offending object up, I find that it is in fact my Xtransciever ringing. I must have an incoming call. I press the answer button and see Elliot's face appear on the screen.

"Elliot!" I cry in surprise, instantly awakened by seeing my best friend.

"Hey, Luke," Elliot replies with a grin. "How's it going? Where are you at the moment?"

I look around at the unfamiliar surroundings. "Um…" Finally the town map on the wall of the room catches my eye. It has a large circle drawn around Bolderoll City, and a sign saying 'you are here'. "I'm at the Pokémon Center in Bolderoll City. Where are you?"

"Wow, you're still back there?" Elliot asks in surprise. "I'm on my way to Gaver City. I won my first Gym Badge yesterday." He holds the Badge up to the screen so I can see.

"Awesome!" I say, impressed. "Nice one, Elliot! How did you find the Gym Leader? Is he tough?"

"Yeah, he's a Gym Leader, he's bound to be tough. Me and Molly came through in the end, though." Elliot's eyes narrow slightly as he scrutinises me. "Are you thinking of taking the Pokémon Gym Challenge too, Luke?"

"Yeah, I thought I might give it a shot," I say with a shrug. By now, Reo has woken up from beside me and is staring at the Xtransciever with slight suspicion.

"How many Pokémon have you caught? You know you can't challenge a Gym Leader unless you have at least three Pokémon."

My heart sinks. "Really? I've only got two… Reo and my new Starly."

"Then you'd better go and find another one. Gym Leaders won't even look at you unless you have three Pokémon to battle them with," Elliot tells me seriously.

"Hey, what three Pokémon did you use?" I ask curiously.

Elliot laughs. "That's top secret. If we're gonna have another battle someday, I'm not going to tell you my team right now."

"Aw, come on Elliot. Please?"

"I'd better go," Elliot says with a chuckle. "We'll be getting to Gaver City soon." There is a pause, and I hear a squeaking noise. Elliot laughs again. "Oh, and Molly says hi. See you soon, Luke."

Elliot's picture disappears from the Xtransciever. I lie back down in my temporary bed. So Elliot's won his first Gym Badge already. Knowing that makes me even more determined to start winning the Badges myself. By the end of the day, I vow, I'll have my first Badge. But before I can do that, I need to catch myself a third Pokémon.

I haul myself out of bed and begin to get dressed. As I do so, I think about what strategy I might use against a Gym Leader. Each Gym Leader specialises in a specific type, that much I know. And from what I can remember, the Gym Leader here in Bolderoll City, Tony, uses Rock-type Pokémon. So that means I should think about catching a Grass, Water, Fighting, Ground or Steel Pokémon to battle him with. That way I'll have an advantage.

As I consider this, another thought enters my head. Of course! I bet the forest that lines the route from Busell Town to here is full of Grass-type Pokémon!

I finish getting ready and call over to Reo, who is dozing on the bed again. "Come on, Reo. Let's go find ourselves a Grass Pokémon."

About twenty minutes later, having struggled up the steep hill leading back out of Bolderoll City and onto the route, Reo and I finally enter the forest. I turn to my partner, who as usual is perched on my back.

"All right Reo, keep your eyes and ears open. If you see any Pokémon, give me a shout."

"Ri," Reo nods in agreement.

We continue moving through the forest for a while before I notice something green on the branch of one of the trees. At first I think it might just be a patch of moss, but as I draw closer, I realise that it is moving. It's a small green caterpillar-like Pokémon, and I pull out my Pokédex to get the full details.

"Caterpie. The Worm Pokémon. Its feet have suction cups designed to stick to any surface. It tenaciously climbs trees to forage."

"A Bug Pokémon," I say to myself, replacing the Pokédex with a feeling of slight disappointment. "That's no good. Rock-type moves will make mincemeat of it. Let's leave that one alone."

A short way further down the path, Reo points with his paw towards another branch on a different tree. I squint and look carefully. At first I can't see anything, but after a while I notice another caterpillar-like Pokémon, orange this time, with a sharp silver point on its head and tail. I extract my Pokédex once more.

"Weedle. The Hairy Bug Pokémon. Often found in forests, eating leaves. It has a sharp venomous stinger on its head."

"Another bug…" I am just about to replace the Pokédex again when I notice one of the leaves on the ground in front of me rustling slightly. I watch it for a moment, and from underneath it comes a yellow Pokémon, again somewhat similar in appearance to a caterpillar, but wrapped in a green leaf that serves almost as a coat. As I watch, it turns to look at me, and I see that its head is surrounded by the pointed end of the leaf.

"Waddle?" it squeaks.

"Wow! What's that?" I ask, holding the Pokédex up to it.

"Sewaddle. The Sewing Pokémon. This Pokémon makes clothes for itself by chewing up leaves and sewing them with sticky thread exuded from its mouth."

"It's so cute," I say in excitement, kneeling down to get a better look. Sewaddle looks at me for a moment. Then, without warning, it rears up and launches a flurry of leaves at me from under its leaf hood.

I cover my face instinctively, and when I look back, I see that its expression has changed to one of annoyance. It is clearly ticked off that we disturbed it. Nevertheless, my resolve is set.

"It's a Grass Pokémon too," I say. "Perfect. You're mine, Sewaddle." I turn to Reo. "OK Reo, let's go get it!"

"Ri!" Reo chirps confidently, jumping down from my back and facing off against Sewaddle, its usual battle pose adopted. Before I can give him any commands, however, Sewaddle launches a thick wad of string at my partner. The string wraps around Reo's eyes, making him unable to see.

"Reo! Are you all right?"

"Riiiiii…" The little Pokémon tries to wipe his eyes with his paws, but with no success. I look down at him. There's no way he can fight like this.

My hand flashes to my belt. "Reo, get back," I say as I unclip a Poké Ball. "We'll let Starly handle this!" I throw the Poké Ball down onto the ground and it bursts open, unleashing my bird Pokémon, and the newest member of my team.

"Staaaaaaar!" Starly cries.

"All right Starly, let's get things rolling with a Quick Attack!" I command.

Starly takes off into the air and hovers about four feet above the ground, before wrapping its wings in tight to its body and diving on the tiny Pokémon. Sewaddle attempts to scurry out of the way, but Starly is too fast, and collides with the Pokémon. Sewaddle is knocked backwards, dazed for a moment, but it quickly gets back to its feet, still ready for more.

Sewaddle reclines its head slightly, before opening its mouth and spewing another wad of string straight towards Starly.

"Starly, use Double Team to dodge it!"

Immediately, Starly begins to flit from side to side, and the speed of the move makes it appear that there are dozens of Starly all flying in unison. The string attack connects with one of them, but it sails straight through. Sewaddle looks confused for a moment. It launches another flurry of leaves, which connect with several of the illusory copies of Starly, but not with the real thing. I grin in satisfaction.

"Good job, Starly, now hit it with a Wing Attack!"

Starly stops moving and the illusions disappear, revealing the real Pokémon right beside Sewaddle. Before the little wild Pokémon can react, Starly spreads her wings wide and brings the left one forward to strike Sewaddle, knocking it further across the clearing. This time, it does not return to its feet.

Yes, I think to myself as I pull a fresh Poké Ball from my bag. "Poké Ball, go!" I throw the ball towards Sewaddle and it makes contact with the Pokémon's leafy hood. The ball opens and sucks Sewaddle inside before falling to the grassy floor, where it wobbles a few times and then…becomes still.

"All right!" I cry in delight. On the grass beside me, Reo has finally finished clearing the string from his eyes, and looks on happily. Even Starly seems pleased, flittering about among the trees joyfully. I step across and pick up the Poké Ball containing my brand new Sewaddle.

"Now that I have three Pokémon, I can challenge the Gym Leader in Bolderoll City," I say to myself, a huge grin on my face. I straighten up and turn to my Pokémon. "But first, let's get you guys healed up. We all need to be in tip-top shape before we battle the Gym Leader."

After a short detour to the Pokémon Center, I find myself standing outside the Bolderoll City Gym. The building is huge, towering above the nearby houses, and it seems to have been built out of a giant brown rock, such as the rock that forms the walls of the crater within which the city is located. I hesitate for a moment. Even the building is imposing. Do I really have the courage to go through with this?

"Rio," Reo says encouragingly from beside me. I look down at him, then back up at the building.

"You're right," I say, my confidence somewhat restored. "I've just got to be brave." I step forward and, after a short hesitation, knock on the great stone door.

"Enter," a booming voice commands from within, and the stone doors slowly heave open.

I step inside the Gym, and again find myself stopping, in awe of what is inside. I had expected it to be a simple battle arena, such as those I had seen on the many Pokémon battle tournaments I've watched on TV over the years. But the interior of the Gym is nothing like that. Like the outside, it is composed almost entirely of stone, and is formed like a great stone canyon or valley, with a flat rocky floor and two high rocky walls, one on either side.

The doors slowly close behind me, and the only light now comes from the lamps set into the walls of the valley. It seems that I am alone. I frown to myself. Where is the Gym Leader?

"Welcome, challenger, to Bolderoll Gym," the booming voice calls again. "Please, come in. We won't get anywhere if you stand in the doorway all day." The voice chuckles, and I take a few steps forward. As I move forward I can eventually see the far wall of the building, which unlike the rest, is made of a grey metal. There is a grey throne at floor level, in which a figure is sat who is currently shrouded in darkness, and on the wall above the throne is a large relief of the Gym's emblem, the same image that is depicted on the Badge Elliot showed me earlier. The Pokémon League logo is painted in the centre of this relief.

"State your name, challenger," comes the voice, issuing, I can now see, from the large figure sat in the throne.

"Um, my name's Luke," I say out loud, my voice echoing throughout the valley. "I've come to challenge the Gym Leader."

"Well, I suppose that would be me then," the figure in the throne says, heaving itself to its feet. As the figure steps down and into the light, it is revealed to be a very tall, rather wide man, with brown hair cropped short and beige clothing not dissimilar to that of an explorer from decades past.

"I am Tony, Leader of Bolderoll Gym," Tony announces. "You, Luke, are here to battle me for a Valley Badge, correct?"

"Yeah," I say, staring up into the face of Tony.

"Is this your first Gym Battle, Luke?"

"Yeah," I say again, wishing I had some more interesting response to give.

"Well then, let me run through the rules with you," Tony says. "A battle against a Gym Leader is different to a battle you might have with your friends. We will each use three Pokémon to battle with." Tony looks down at me. "You…do have three Pokémon, right?"

"Yes sir," I confirm with a nod.

Tony sighs gladly. "That's a relief. The number of people who walk in here with only one or two Pokémon… It's nice to finally be able to battle someone for a change instead of having to turn everyone out until they can be bothered to go catch some more Pokémon."

"The rest of the rules?" I press.

"Oh right, yeah. Ahem. We will each use three Pokémon, who will face off against each other in a series of one-on-one rounds. No switching is allowed during rounds. The first Trainer to win two out of three rounds wins the match. If that's you, you win yourself a Valley Badge. Any questions?"

"What happens if you win?" I ask tentatively.

"You're allowed one rematch," Tony says with a slight grin.

"And what if you win the rematch as well?"

"Then there's a one year wait before you're allowed to challenge again."

I gasp in shock. "One year?!"

"That's right, so you'd better not lose!" Tony chuckles. "In saying that, though, don't think I'll go easy on you. So, are you ready to challenge me now, or do you want to go out and do some more training first?"

I look down at Reo, and he looks up at me. His face is set, and he nods to show he is ready. I look back up at Tony, determined.

"We're ready."

"All right. Then let the battle commence!"

A glowing rectangle appears on the floor at either end of the valley. Tony moves across to stand in one, and I move to the other.

"Choose your first Pokémon then, challenger," Tony orders.

Reo makes to step forward, but I hold him back. "Hold it, Reo. I might need you later if things take a turn for the worse. I'm going to start with a different Pokémon. You just watch for now." Reo sighs and steps backward as I detach a Poké Ball from my belt.

"I'm gonna kick off with…Starly!" I cry, tossing the Poké Ball into the arena. It opens to reveal Starly, fluttering confidently above the floor.

Tony laughs. "Interesting choice," he remarks, pulling a Poké Ball from his own belt. "Your first opponent will be…Roggenrola!" Tony hurls the Poké Ball into the arena, and when the light flash clears it reveals a small, blue rock Pokémon with a solitary yellow eye-like hole in the centre, and two small feet. I extract my Pokédex.

"Roggenrola. The Mantle Pokémon. Discovered a hundred years ago in an earthquake fissure. Its body is as hard as steel."

"Piece of cake," I say confidently. "OK Starly, let's get this battle underway. Kick things off with a Quick Attack!"

"Star!" Starly once again wraps its wings in around its body and dives at Roggenrola, who does not make any effort to get out of the way. Starly collides with the little Rock Pokémon and is sent backwards, reeling from the impact.

"Starly!" I call. "Are you all right?"

Across the arena, Tony is laughing. "You can't use Normal-type moves against a Rock Pokémon!" he jeers. "That's not gonna work!"

I slap my forehead with my palm. Of course it isn't. How did I not realise that?

"Roggenrola, Headbutt attack!" Tony orders. This time, Roggenrola dives at Starly, and sends it flying further backward. Starly appears dazed for a moment, but takes off again, still ready for more.

"All right then, Starly, time for a change of tactic," I call out. "Use Double Team!"

Just like in the forest, Starly begins to flit back and forth with blinding speed, creating the illusion of many Starly all at once.

"Roggenrola, Rock Blast it to bring it down! Aim at all of them, and you're bound to hit eventually!"

Roggenrola starts firing rocks from the eye-like hole in its middle, aiming at all of the Starly illusions. Eventually, one makes contact with the real thing, and Starly is brought crashing to the ground once more.

"Now finish it off with another Headbutt!" Tony cries, and Roggenrola dives at Starly once more. Starly takes the full force of the move and slumps onto the floor, defeated.

"No! Starly!" I cry out. I grudgingly extract Starly's Poké Ball and call her back. Across the field, Tony recalls Roggenrola.

"First round goes to me," he announces with a grin. "You need to win both these next two rounds now, or you lose!"

"Don't worry, that last round was just a warm up," I tell him, my voice much more confident than I actually feel.

Tony laughs. "I'll believe that when I see it. Choose your next Pokémon."

At my feet, Reo is itching to get into the battle, but again I hold him back. I pull my latest Pokémon from my belt and throw its Poké Ball into battle. "For round two, I choose Sewaddle!" The Poké Ball opens and my little Grass Pokémon is unleashed.

"Waddle," Sewaddle squeaks.

"In that case…" Tony throws in his next Poké Ball. "Go, Sandshrew!"

A light brown armadillo-like Pokémon, a Sandshrew, emerges. This time, my Pokédex is out and ready.

"Sandshrew. The Mouse Pokémon. It lives in deep burrows in arid areas because it dislikes water. It can roll itself instantly into a ball."

"Hey, that's a Ground-type Pokémon!" I protest. "I thought you were supposed to be the Rock Gym leader?"

"I am," Tony chuckles, "but there's no rule saying I can't have one different kind of Pokémon. And anyway, Rock, Ground, it's all the same really, isn't it?"

"Yeah, and it's all weak to Grass!" I cry out. "Sewaddle, hit it with your Razor Leaf attack!" Sewaddle ruffles its leaf hood and launches a flurry of leaves towards Sandshrew.

"Sandshrew, Defense Curl!" Tony orders. Sandshrew curls up into a ball, and the leaves bounce off, appearing to do little damage to the curled up Pokémon. "Nice one, Sandshrew," Tony comments. "Now use your Rollout attack!"

Still in its ball shape, Sandshrew begins to roll towards Sewaddle, gathering speed as it approaches. I realise I need to stop it, but how can I do that?"

"Sewaddle, wrap it up with your String Shot!" I command. Sewaddle opens its mouth and pours out a thick glob of sticky string which wraps around Sandshrew. Sandshrew is tripped up and falls out of its ball shape, coming to rest on the floor just a few feet away from Sewaddle.

"Try another Razor Leaf, Sewaddle!" Sewaddle obediently sends forth another flurry of leaves, which this time contact with Sandshrew's soft underbelly. The armadillo Pokémon is launched into the air by the force of the impact and smacks down again, clearly incapable of continuing.

"Sandshrew, return!" Tony calls out. He recalls his Pokémon, and I take out Sewaddle's Poké Ball once more.

"Nice one, Sewaddle. Come on back."

Across the arena, Tony looks impressed. "Not bad," he remarks. "You sure know how to pick on weak points. Round two goes to you." Tony unclips his final Poké Ball. "But I'm afraid your luck ends here. It's time to settle this. Go, Cranidos!"

Tony hurls the ball into the arena and it opens to reveal a small, grey dinosaur Pokémon with a shiny blue head. I point my Pokédex towards the creature for more information.

"Cranidos. The Head Butt Pokémon. A prehistoric Pokémon that was resurrected from an iron ball-like fossil. It downs prey with its head butts."

"Crani," the Pokémon cries threateningly.

"OK Reo, you're up for this one," I say to my partner.

"Rio!" Reo cries confidently and leaps into the arena, itching to get into the battle.

"OK Reo, we need to win this round. I'm counting on you, buddy." Reo nods and adopts his battle stance.

"Your Pokémon likes you, kid," Tony comments. "I almost feel sorry about having to beat it. But beat it we will. Cranidos, Headbutt attack!"

Cranidos begins to charge at Reo. Sensing danger, I cry out to my Pokémon. "Reo, don't let it hit you with that Headbutt! Dodge out of the way when it gets close!" Reo watches Cranidos getting ever closer, and at the last second, jumps out of the way, sending Cranidos crashing headfirst into the valley wall. It turns back towards Reo, looking unharmed.

Its head is obviously too strong, I think to myself. If we can hit it from behind, we might stand a chance.

"Cranidos, don't let it get away from you. Trap it with your Rock Tomb attack!"

"Crani!" Cranidos smashes its head into the rocky floor, sending a tremor across the arena. Reo watches it warily. The tremor cracks the wall of the valley, and large rocks start falling down around Reo. One falls directly onto my partner's back, knocking him down and pinning him to the floor, preventing him from moving.

"Reo!" I call out desperately.

"That's it Cranidos. Now, Headbutt again, and make sure you hit this time!" Cranidos begins to charge again, and I realise there's no escaping the attack this time. Reo watches the charging Pokémon draw close with fear in his tiny eyes.

"Reo, Endure!" I cry in desperation. Reo closes his eyes and braces himself as Cranidos smashes headlong into him. The rock trapping Reo shatters, filling the air with a cloud of dust. When finally it clears, I grin as I see Reo getting to his feet, with Cranidos standing just behind him, facing away, looking around to see where Reo is.

"Go on Reo, hit it with your Force Palm from behind!"

Reo does not wait for a second order. Quick as a flash, he raises his right palm and smacks it straight into Cranidos' weaker back. Cranidos soars all the way across the arena from the force of the impact, and lands on the floor in front of Tony, who looks down in shock.

"Cranidos?" he calls, but his Pokémon does not respond.

"I think you'll find that the third round goes to me and Reo," I say triumphantly.

Tony extracts a Poké Ball and calls back Cranidos. His face still holds a dumbfounded look. "I can't believe it… I just can't believe it…" After a moment, he regains his composure and looks up and me, his expression now one of pride. "Come over here, Luke."

I make my way across the battlefield, unable to stop the wide grin from spreading across my face. I've done it. I've actually defeated a Gym Leader on my first attempt. I come to a halt in front of Tony, who looks down at me, impressed.

"Not many challengers can defeat my Cranidos," Tony says. "That, in itself, is a feat to be proud of. But the way you battle, the trust you have in your Pokémon, and the unwavering loyalty they have to you… It really is inspiring to see." Tony reaches into his shorts pocket and pulls out my prize.

"Here, take it. It's the official Pokémon League Valley Badge."

Delighted, I accept the Badge from Tony and behold it. The Badge is simple in design: a dark brown V-shape with a smaller light brown triangle within it. Holding it in my hands makes me feel as though I have achieved something, something I can really be proud of, and I look up at Tony gratefully.

"Thank you, Tony," I say.

"You deserve it, Luke," Tony says with a nod. "It's your first step towards becoming the Champion of the Pokémon League, and I'm sure it won't be your last. Travel well, my friend, and if you ever feel a desire to rock and roll with me again, come on back, and I'll be more than happy to have another battle with you."

With one final handshake and wave, I turn away from Tony and head out of the Gym, affixing my new Valley Badge to my jacket as I do so. Once outside, I pick up Reo in my arms and hug him tightly.

"You were brilliant, Reo," I tell him proudly. "You and Sewaddle and Starly are the reason I won this Badge. I'm so proud of you."

"Rio!" Reo cries happily.

Suddenly, Reo's body begins to glow with a bright light. Surprised, I loose him, but he does not fall to the ground. He simply remains hovering in mid-air, glowing. As I watch, awestruck, I see his body, head, arms and legs elongate, as he comes to rest on the ground. When he finally stops glowing, I behold my little Reo in wonder.

Reo has transformed into a new Pokémon. His features are all longer, and he has a much more serious look on his face now. He is much taller, coming up to about shoulder-height on me. His chest has turned yellow, and there is a spike in the centre of it, matching the spikes that now lie on the back of his wrists. But the eyes are still the same, friendly and wise, trusting and loyal. My Reo has evolved.

Then Reo opens his mouth, and instead of a high-pitched chirp, a deep, solemn voice issues:

"Hello, Luke."


	5. A Vengeful Promise

**5.**

**A VENGEFUL PROMISE**

For a moment I continue to stare, speechless, at the newly-evolved Reo that stands before me. Reo watches me carefully, his knowing eyes trained upon mine. Eventually I regain the power of speech, and swallow to try and calm myself down.

"You can talk?" I ask in disbelief.

"Yes," Reo replies simply.

"But I thought Pokémon can only say their own name?"

Reo shrugs. "Most can. In fact, apart from myself and others of my species, there are very few who can perform the art of human speech, and those who can are usually only rare examples of otherwise perfectly normal Pokémon."

"So all Pokémon like you can talk, too?" I ask. "What kind of Pokémon does that make you, then?"

A faint smile passes over Reo's face. "You're a Pokémon Trainer, aren't you? Do what all Pokémon Trainers do when they encounter a new kind of Pokémon. Look me up on your Pokédex."

I pause for a moment before extracting my Pokédex from my jacket pocket and holding it up to Reo, feeling slightly awkward for some reason.

"Lucario. The Aura Pokémon. The evolved form of Riolu. It has the ability to sense the auras of all things. By catching the aura emanating from others, it can read their thoughts and movements."

"Lucario…" I repeat as I replace my Pokédex. "So, that's your name now?"

"That is my species, not my name," Reo corrects. "You decided to name me Reo, did you not?"

A sheepish smile appears on my lips. "I guess so," I admit, scratching the back of my neck shyly. "And you're still the same Pokémon as before?"

"Exactly the same. I share all of the thoughts, feelings and memories as my unevolved self. I've just…grown up a little, that's all," Reo proclaims with a smile.

"Does that mean you're more powerful than before?"

Reo turns away. "That is for you to decide." There is something of a cold edge to his voice now, and it takes me by surprise.

"What do you mean by that?" I ask, my speech measured.

"'Power' is a term coined by fools that governs everything they do. The weak-minded seek out only the biggest, most endurable, hardest-hitting Pokémon and then pit them against one another in brutal contests of strength, with the sole aim of proving that theirs is the one, the best trained, the most powerful." Reo turns back to me, his expression serious. "There are more important things to being a Trainer than power alone."

"You mean like trusting your Pokémon, believing in them? That's important too, right?"

For the first time since his evolution, Reo breaks into a full, proper smile. "That is the most important thing of all, Luke. Do you believe in me?"

I look at Reo for a moment. "You can sense my aura," I say eventually. "You tell me. Do I believe in you?"

"Completely and utterly," is Reo's proud answer.

"And what about you?" I ask now. "I'm your Trainer, you're my Pokémon. Do you believe in me?"

Reo's smile only grows wider. "Completely and utterly."

An hour or so later, Reo and I are sat in the cafeteria of the Pokémon Center. Sewaddle and Starly, now fully healed, are roaming around happily, playing some sort of game that looks a lot like tag, and which Starly's superior speed is enabling it to win at rather easily. I drink my coffee and watch them play together. Someday, I think to myself… Someday they'll be evolved too. Is that really what's best for them? That their cumulative battles lead them to grow out of their carefree, almost childish ways? Am I forcing my Pokémon to endure too much?

"You seem preoccupied, Luke."

I wrench my eyes from Starly and Sewaddle and turn my attention back to Reo, who sits opposite me looking rather odd nursing his own mug of coffee. "I know what you're thinking about," he says soothingly. "Let me put your conscience at ease. You're a Pokémon Trainer. Battling is what you do, that's the truth, and there's nothing you or anyone else can do to change that. But _raising_ Pokémon, training them to be the best that they can be, whatever that means, is just as important."

Reo looks over at his fellow Pokémon for a moment, then turns back to me. "Starly, Sewaddle and I, we all trust your judgment. Ultimately, you know what's best for us, and we all know that you would never willingly expose us to harm purely to try and prove that we are more powerful than somebody else. I have seen that firsthand."

"You mean what happened in that battle with Ben?" I shake my head sadly. "I shouldn't have put you in that situation in the first place, Reo. I should've known I had no chance against a Trainer like him. I let you down the moment I challenged him."

Reo opens his mouth to argue back, but at that moment, our attention is suddenly caught by an unexpected sound. A scream issues from the lobby of the Pokémon Center, and our heads instinctively turn in its direction. Starly and Sewaddle stop playing and face the door too, and it is clear to all of us that something urgent is going on.

"Somebody, please help!" a female voice is calling out.

Without a second thought, my hand whips to my belt. "Starly, Sewaddle, return!" I call, holding up their Poké Balls and summoning them back to safety. I stand up and, with Reo hot on my heels, hurry towards the doors to the main lobby.

"What is it, what's going on?" I ask the moment I enter the room.

A blonde, middle-aged woman in a pink dress and a green scarf turns her head in my direction, her expression panic-stricken. Upon seeing my Pokémon at my side, realisation dawns on her face and she practically runs over to me and grabs my jacket in panic.

"You're a Pokémon Trainer?" she asks.

"Yes," I confirm.

"A strong one?"

"Well, that's a matter of opinion…" I start to reply, but she is already tugging me towards the doors of the building.

"There's no time to lose!" the woman cries as the sliding doors open and she drags me out into the thick afternoon air, which is warm and humid. The dark clouds overhead hint to a thunderstorm brewing. "These horrible men in black suits are trying to take all the town's Pokémon!"

I wrench myself free from the woman's grip and exchange a worried look with Reo. "Men in black suits?" I repeat. "What did they look like?"

"Like men in black suits! And their leader had green hair, and it was all pointy, and…"

"Greson…" Reo growls, his voice dark and full of hate. I realise that he has come to the same conclusion as me. Team SPF are back.

"…and there's just no time to lose!" The woman finishes talking to herself and grabs my jacket again, pulling me towards the city square, with Reo following close behind.

Finally we come to a large crowd and the woman releases me at last. The crowd seems to take up the entire square and forms a large ring, in the centre of which is a hastily-erected podium, upon which stands a man I had hoped never to see again, despite his promise to the contrary.

"Citizens of Bolderoll City!" Greson is calling to the town's population, his nasal voice amplified by the podium's microphone, making it more grating and unpleasant than usual. "You will surrender your Pokémon to us, the Silvari Pokémon Force, or we shall take them from you…by force!"

A shocked cry of outrage issues from the city's people. The circle of people as one takes a few steps backward, and the person in front of me moves onto my foot, causing me a moment's agony. I shake this off and crane my neck to look over the crowds. Inside the circle, I can see members of Team SPF, dressed in their peculiar black outfits, coming round to the various people with open sacks ready to take their Pokémon. A few sad citizens are removing Poké Balls from their belts and placing them into the sacks, presumably under threats or orders from the Team SPF members who face them.

Near to where I am standing, a member of Team SPF stops next to a very young child, a boy of only about six or seven, who I can see from my position trembling in terror.

"Hand over your Pokémon, kid," the goon orders.

"No!" the child cries shakily, cradling a Poké Ball tight to his chest. "Please don't take my Mudkip away from me!"

"You dare to defy Team SPF?!" the goon yells, and makes a dive for the Poké Ball.

I've seen enough. Barging past the various citizens, I make my way quickly to the front of the crowd and throw myself between the boy and the goon.

"Hey!" I yell. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size, huh?"

Another shocked cry emanates from the crowd, which then becomes nearly silent. Up on the podium, Greson glances over at me in annoyance, before doing a double-take and staring at me, his face contorted in unpleasant surprise.

"You!" he yells in outrage, forgetting that he is still next to the microphone. His bark rings out across the square and the entire crowd, and Greson himself, jump in unison from the noise.

"Boss?" the goon calls over uncertainly.

Greson jumps down from the podium and stalks over to me, seething with rage. He shoves the goon out of the way and stands before me, his narrow face twisted into a furious sneer.

"So… The little boy in the forest thinks he's a man now, does he?" Greson jeers at me.

"I don't know, do you?" I ask defiantly.

A ripple of chuckles emits from the people closest to us, which is quickly silenced by Greson's glare. He looks back at me.

"What are you doing here, boy?"

"Me? I just came here to earn myself a Valley Badge, but it's a good thing I stuck around if you jerks are gonna show up and try and take people's Pokémon."

"And you're going to stand up to us? After what happened last time?" Greson asks loudly.

"As I recall, LAST time I beat you in my first ever Pokémon battle with a Pokémon I only just got," I remind him. "So unless you feel like losing to me again, even more convincingly now I know what I'm doing, I suggest you leave these people alone."

"You're a fool and a liar and a brat," Greson spits furiously. "I'm going to teach you a lesson you won't ever forget." He leaps backwards and draws a Poké Ball from his belt. Immediately I turn to Reo, ready to send him into battle, but Reo holds up his hand.

"Wait, Luke. First see who he sends out."

"Goooooooooooooo Scraggy!" Greson cries, hurling the Poké Ball towards me. It bursts open to reveal a small, bipedal, yellow Pokémon with a circular head and a large tail.

"Scraggy!" it cries menacingly.

"You see?" Reo mutters to me. "Scraggy is a Fighting-type Pokémon. I'm at a disadvantage."

"Fair enough," I concede. "But I know someone who's not!" I unclip a Poké Ball from my own belt. "Go, Starly!" I toss the ball into battle and release my bird Pokémon.

"Star!" Starly cries, hovering above the ground.

"You think that puny bird is enough to defeat Greson of Team SPF?" Greson jeers, as though he doubts it. "So be it. Scraggy, Headbutt attack!"

Scraggy leaps towards Starly, but the agile bird easily flits out of the way, sending Scraggy crashing to the ground. Unfazed, it immediately gets back up and goes for another Headbutt, but Starly simply flies higher out of its reach. Scraggy gets up, looking irritated, and goes for a third Headbutt.

"Starly, Wing Attack!" I command. As Scraggy leaps toward Starly, head first, Starly raises its right wing and slaps Scraggy right across the face, sending the small Pokémon crashing back to Earth, where it remains motionless for a while. Eventually, it gets back to its feet, still ready for more.

"Quit playing with it, Scraggy! Hi Jump Kick, now! Bring that bird down to Earth!" Greson orders.

Scraggy leaps into the air again, but this time switches position so that its feet are first. Starly attempts to dodge, but the Pokémon makes contact, and both Starly and Scraggy land on the floor in a crumpled heap. Scraggy gets up first and jumps backwards away from Starly.

"Scrag!" it says, with a determined expression on its face.

"Perfect! Now finish it off with a Low Kick!"

Scraggy begins to charge towards Starly, who is still struggling to get to her feet. Across the field, Greson grins maniacally. "This battle is as good as over!" he cries.

I watch Scraggy draw nearer, trying to think of something. In a moment of desperation, I call to my injured Pokémon.

"Starly, turn things around with your Endeavor attack!"

Scraggy stretches out its foot to perform the finishing blow, but Starly heeds my advice. There is a bright flash of light, and when it clears, both Starly and Scraggy lie on the floor, panting, almost defeated.

"Starly, Quick Attack!" I call. With what little strength is left in her body, Starly takes off into the air and immediately dives down on Scraggy before it can get to its feet. The force of impact renders Scraggy unconscious, and more importantly, defeated.

"Impossible…" Greson murmurs in shock. He recalls Scraggy and gives a snort. "Useless Pokémon."

"You should treat your Pokémon with more respect," I call across the battlefield. "Scraggy just gave its all for you, and it only missed out by a little bit, yet still you call it useless."

"Any Pokémon that can't win matches is worthless!" Greson yells back. "Don't lecture me on how to treat my Pokémon, boy!"

I shake my head in mild disbelief and draw out Starly's Poké Ball. "You were awesome, Starly. Return."

"What are you doing? I'm not finished yet," Greson cries with a leer. He unclips another Poké Ball from his belt and throws it into the arena. "Krokorok, show this brat how a REAL Pokémon fights!"

The ball bursts open to reveal a very large, bipedal crocodile Pokémon, light brown in colour with black stripes along its body and its pink belly, and dark black markings around its eyes. It seems somewhat familiar.

"Hey, isn't that…" I mutter to myself, extracting my Pokédex.

"Krokorok. The Desert Croc Pokémon. The evolved form of Sandile. The special membrane covering its eyes can sense the heat of objects, so it can see its surroundings even in darkness."

"Evolved form of Sandile. I knew it," I mutter, recalling my battle with Greson in the woods outside Tranila Town, my first battle with Reo as my partner…or at all, for that matter.

"Ah, I remember this one," Reo says quietly, with a smile. "Allow me." Reo steps forward to face Krokorok, and Greson's expression changes to one of confusion.

"What's that supposed to be? Some sort of dog that's been stretched?" Greson mocks.

"This is Reo," I tell him. "Remember? The Pokémon that took your Sandile out last time?"

For a moment, a look passes across Greson's face, which seems akin to fear. He recovers his composure instantly, though. "That will not happen again. Krokorok, crush that mutt with your Crunch attack!"

"Kroko!" Krokorok roars, and begins to charge at Reo.

"Reo, use…" I begin, but Reo has other ideas.

"Stand back, Luke. I got this."

As Krokorok charges, jaws wide and ready to strike, Reo pulls his new, stronger arms around to the side of him and twists his body slightly away from the charging croc. He holds his palms one above the other and closes his eyes, his whole body vibrating with the concentration he is putting into…whatever he's doing. I watch on, awestruck, as an orb of energy forms between his palms, growing larger and larger by the moment.

With one final grunt of effort, Reo brings the orb of energy round towards Krokorok and fires it at the charging Pokémon. The energy ball hits Krokorok square in the chest, and the big Pokémon is lifted off its feet and sent flying backwards towards its Trainer, where it crumples onto the floor in a heap, defeated in a single hit.

For a moment there is silence in the square, everyone watching on in disbelief, me included. Someone in the crowd starts clapping, then someone else, then someone else, until the whole crowd is a wall of sound: cheering, applauding and whistling, whilst the dumbfounded Team SPF members look on in disbelief, wondering what to do.

After a while, Greson regains his senses and recalls his defeated Pokémon. He looks over at me and Reo with loathing. "I suppose you think you're pretty tough, eh punk?"

"I don't need to be tough," I say, shaking my head. "I believe in my Pokémon and they believe in me. That belief is enough to get me the victory."

Greson snorts disgustedly. "You make me sick. Pokémon are for battling. Trainers who won't make their Pokémon fight don't deserve to have Pokémon. That is why Team SPF exists, and why we will continue to go on, performing our noble work. You may have outwitted us this once, but mark my words: should you ever cross us again, you will rue the very day you decided to interfere with the Silvari Pokémon Force…"

With that, Greson signals to the remaining Team SPF members and turns to leave. The remaining members follow him, their sacks of collected Poké Balls abandoned, and several people from the crowd rush forward to reclaim their Pokémon, their faces betraying their relief to have their precious companions back.

After a while the crowd begins to dissipate, eventually leaving me and Reo as the only ones left, our places unchanged since the end of the battle. Reo turns to me, and smiles somewhat guiltily.

"Sorry," he concedes. "I know I'm supposed to let you give me orders, but I couldn't resist…"

"What was that move you used?" I ask, still in awe of Reo's newfound power.

"Aura Sphere. It's my special, guaranteed to hit, one-shot takedown, super-duper signature move."

I laugh at this. "Well, it certainly took down Greson." I look at Reo, gratitude written in my expression. "Thank you, Reo. You saved me again, and the whole city, too." I take a step forward, arms stretched out as if to hug my partner, then pause awkwardly.

Reo lets out his own bark of a laugh. "I'm not too grown-up for a hug, Luke." He outstretches his own arms and I step forward and hug him. Team SPF will never understand how this feels, I think to myself. To have a team of Pokémon allies, who do what you request rather than what you order, who know you have only their best interests at heart.

They would never understand the magic of this moment.


	6. The Girl of My Dreams

**6.**

**THE GIRL OF MY DREAMS**

"Face it, Reo: we're lost."

It is one day following my battle with Greson in Bolderoll City square. Now, in order to resume our Gym Challenge, Reo and I are heading for Verdate City, the location of the second of Silvari's Pokémon Gyms. In order to get there we must first follow the trail to Gaver City, then pass through Translucent Cave to reach Verdate City.

At this moment in time, however, we find ourselves hopelessly lost in the winding roads that lead from Bolderoll City to Gaver City. The midday sun burns above us; I have already removed my jacket due to the heat, but now it just adds to the already considerable weight in my bag, slowing me down yet more.

"We are not lost," Reo replies indignantly. "We are merely…without direction."

I sigh and slump to the dusty floor. I raise the near-empty water bottle I have been carrying to my lips and drain the last few drops of water from it. This cools me momentarily, and I sigh again, this time in a more satisfied manner, as the cold liquid runs through my body.

"Let's think about this logically," Reo is saying. "Let's retrace our steps and try and figure out where we might have gone wrong."

"Well, we left Bolderoll City this morning and got to that sign at the junction," I recall. "We followed the sign for Gaver City."

"Right," Reo confirms with a nod. "And then we came to a fork in the road. We took the left fork, which led to a dead end, so we turned back and took the right fork, which led to a path that branched in three directions, so we took the left path, which led us to a crossroads, so then we…"

My head is spinning. "Slow down, Reo!" I cry, cradling my aching skull in my hands. "I can't keep up when you rattle things off at this speed. I've only got a human brain, remember?"

Reo turns to me. "Sorry, Luke," he apologises. "I'm just a little frustrated, that's all."

"Well, being frustrated and going round in circles like this isn't getting us anywhere," I say, getting to my feet. "Maybe if I send Starly out she can fly up into the sky and see which direction Gaver City is in."

Reo smiles at me, impressed. "That's good thinking, Luke."

"You don't need to sound so surprised," I reply with a grin, detaching Starly's Poké Ball from my belt. A moment later, my bird Pokémon has been released and is hovering above the ground near my shoulder, looking happy for a chance to stretch her wings.

"Star!" she cries joyfully.

"Starly, I want you to fly as high as you can and see if you can see where Gaver City is," I tell her. Starly nods and sets off, flying higher and higher into the sky. I look up and watch her until the sunlight begins to hurt my eyes, at which point I divert my gaze back to Reo.

"Well, I guess there's not much we can do until Starly gets back," I muse, slumping back down onto the ground again.

I feel a vibration and hear a bleeping noise coming from my jeans pocket. My Xtransciever is ringing. I extract the device and press the answer button, and mom's face appears on the screen.

"Mom!" I exclaim, a feeling of surprise and happiness permeating my thoughts. "Hey!"

"Hi honey!" mom calls. "It's so good to see you." There is a pause for a moment, then suddenly mom begins to yell. "IT'S BEEN THREE DAYS SINCE YOU LEFT ME! WHY HAVEN'T YOU CALLED ME YET?!"

Reo turns away, a wry smile spreading across his face. I cringe, embarrassed. "Sorry, mom. I've been busy, and…I just…forgot, I guess…"

"You FORGOT?!" mom cries, outraged. "How could you! How could you forget your own mother?!"

"I told you, I've been busy! Look, mom, I won a Valley Badge from the Gym in Bolderoll City," I tell her, pulling my jacket from my bag and showing the small emblem to her.

Mom's expression changes instantly to one of pride and delight. "Oh, how wonderful! Well done, honey!" she gushes. "I just knew you'd turn out to be a great Trainer."

I hear a peculiar squeaking noise and look up. Reo is facing determinedly away from me, but I'm pretty sure he's laughing. I ignore him and turn back to the Xtransciever screen. "Thanks mom," I say.

"Where are you now, honey?"

"On my way to Gaver City," I reply, glancing up at the barren surroundings. "Well, I'm trying, anyway. I'm a little lost," I admit. "I've just sent Starly to try and find us a way onward."

Mom squeals with delight. "You caught a Starly, all by yourself?"

"And a Sewaddle," I add, before I can stop myself.

Mom claps her hands together, forgetting that she is holding the Xtransciever and dropping it to the floor. I enjoy a view of the ceiling for a moment before mom realises and picks the device back up.

"Sorry, hon," she says. "I'm just so happy for you."

"I know, mom."

There is a ring at the doorbell, and mom looks in its direction. "Oh! I've got to go, honey. Johanna's coming for lunch. Goodbye, Luke. I love you!"

"I love you too, mom," I assure her. The Xtransciever screen goes blank, and I replace it in my pocket, before hauling myself to my feet. Reo turns to face me, his expression one of forced neutrality.

"So, how is she?" he asks, speaking in a very measured way.

I scowl at him. "I'm not even going to answer that question."

There is a light tap at my left shoulder, and I turn to see that Starly has returned, and is hovering by my shoulder, looking exhausted. Having got my attention, she lands on my shoulder, grateful of the rest.

"Starly! Did you manage to find out which was the right path?"

"Star…" Starly chirps, before indicating forward with her wing.

"So we should keep going this way?" I ask, and Starly nods. "Thanks, Starly. You did great." I detach her Poké Ball once more and recall my Pokémon, before returning the ball to my belt.

"Come on then," I say to Reo and begin to walk, my faith and determination now restored.

We continue to follow the path for about twenty or thirty more minutes. The trees lining the road grow steadily thicker as we proceed, until finally we come to what seems to be a dead end, with overgrown branches hanging down over the path. I look down at the floor, and see that the trail seems to continue through the branches. I glance at Reo, who shrugs, before facing forward and pushing through the branches.

"What in the…" I gasp out loud. "What is this place?"

We have arrived in what looks like an abandoned playground. The floor is made of large, grey concrete slabs, and there is various play equipment dotted around: a slide, a swing set, a seesaw, a jungle gym… Strangest of all, the entire area sits beneath a large dark cloud bank, shrouding the area from the heat of the sun and keeping it both cool and fairly dark.

"Is this really here?" I wonder out loud, rubbing my eyes. The bizarre vision does not disappear. "Are you seeing this too, Reo?"

"Affirmative," Reo murmurs, clearly as in awe of the sight as I am.

I nervously take a few steps forward, wondering why this place is here, and who built it. I examine the slide, which is beginning to rust and covered in moss. No one could have used this for years, I think to myself.

"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaalts!"

The gleeful cry makes both me and Reo jump, and we instinctively turn in its direction to see a small grey creature with a large green head from which two red semicircles protrude slide down the slide and jump off at the bottom.

"A Pokémon!" I cry in excitement, all my misgivings about the area gone in an instant. I pull out my Pokédex and hold it up to the creature, who has turned at the sound of my voice and is eyeing us cautiously.

"Ralts. The Feeling Pokémon. It uses the horns on its head to sense human emotions. It is said to appear in front of cheerful people."

"Ralts, eh?" I say with a grin, unclipping a Poké Ball from my belt. "What say you come join my team, Ralts?"

"Ral!" The Pokémon gives a cry of fear and begins to scoot away from me.

"No, wait, don't go!" I cry after it, and begin to chase it. Soon, Ralts comes up to the fence at the edge of the playground and has to stop. It turns towards me, and its horns begin to glow.

A moment later, I slam into an invisible wall and fall backwards against the concrete. Next to me, Reo suffers the same fate. I rub my head where I hit it against the wall. "Oww…"

Next to the fence, Ralts is laughing. "Raahahahalts…"

"Oh yeah?" I say indignantly, getting to my feet. "We'll just see who's laughing in a minute. He's mine!"

"She," Reo corrects from beside me. "It's a girl."

"Oh…" I respond, awkwardly. "Well, anyway, she's mine!" I toss the Poké Ball in my hand forward. "Go, Sewaddle!"

The ball opens and my little caterpillar Pokémon emerges. "Waddle," it squeaks, facing off against Ralts.

"Sewaddle, Razor Leaf!" I command. Sewaddle ruffles its leaf hood, then fires a flurry of leaves towards Ralts. Being pressed against the wall, the little Pokémon is unable to dodge, and the razor-edged leaves connect, causing it to emit squeaks of pain.

"Yeah, that's it!" I encourage. "Now use… Wait a minute, what's it doing?"

Ralts' horns have begun to glow again, as have the leaves scattered on the floor. I watch in amazement as the leaves rise up into the air and are launched back at Sewaddle, who is not expecting the move, and becomes a victim of his own attack.

"What was that?" I ask Reo.

"That looked like a Magical Leaf attack," Reo says, his voice indicating that he is impressed with the little Pokémon's powers. "I didn't know Ralts could use such a move."

"You're not supposed to be impressed!" I tell him indignantly. "You're supposed to be on my side, remember?"

Reo grins sheepishly. "Sorry, Luke."

Back in the battle, Ralts' horns are glowing once more. Sewaddle is lifted off its feet by a mysterious power and slammed back into the floor. Sewaddle gets up, but is visibly dazed and confused by the attack.

"Shake it off, Sewaddle!" I urge. "Use your String Shot attack!"

Sewaddle shakes its head to try and clear its senses, before opening its mouth and launching a line of string towards Ralts. But again, Ralts is ready, its horns already glowing, and the sticky thread merely contacts another invisible wall, sliding down it and leaving Ralts unharmed.

"She fights well for such a young Pokémon," Reo notes.

I grit my teeth. "Well, she's gonna be my young Pokémon before long. Sewaddle, hold it in place with your Bug Bite attack!"

Sewaddle scurries towards Ralts. I watch as Ralts' horns stop glowing and it slumps down a little, clearly drained from the energy it used to maintain the invisible wall. I realise that now is our chance, and watch on hopefully as Sewaddle nears it and clamps its jaws around the little Pokémon, who cries out in pain but is unable to get away.

"Yes! Now you're mine, Ralts!" I pull a new Poké Ball out of my bag and toss it at the Pokémon. Sewaddle lets go just as the ball contacts Ralts' green cranium and we all watch as the ball drops to the floor and wobbles twice before becoming still.

"All right! I got it!" I announce happily, dashing across to pick up my new Pokémon. "Nice work, Sewaddle!"

"Waddle," Sewaddle acknowledges, humbly proud of its service.

A short while later, Reo and I are sitting on the swing set of the abandoned playground. My new Ralts, its health restored thanks to a Potion, is sitting on my lap munching happily on some Pokémon food I purchased from the Pokémon Center before leaving Bolderoll City. A pink mist-like substance hangs in the air, adding to the peculiar surroundings. I yawn widely.

"What time is it?" I ask Reo.

"I don't know," Reo says. His voice sounds tired as well. "But I'm sure it was only just after midday when we got here. It can't be that much later, surely?"

I yawn again as the mist seems to increase in density. "Well, I might just…take a little nap…while…"

I don't get to finish my sentence. I am already asleep.

I open my eyes. Night has fallen in the playground, and it is much darker. Ralts is no longer in my lap, and I place my hand to my belt in alarm before locating her Poké Ball at my belt. I look to my left and see Reo, fast asleep on the swing beside me. The pink mist has disappeared from the air.

"Reo?" I whisper, giving my partner a little shake. "Reo, wake up."

Suddenly, the air is filled with a beautiful sound. Someone is singing. A female voice, high-pitched and melodic, singing along to the rhythm of a second voice, this one that of a Pokémon, simply saying the same word over and over, but coupled with the female voice it is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard.

I rise to my feet and begin to walk, following the sound of the voice. As I pass Reo I almost stop to wake him, but my mind takes over. Reo can take care of himself, and I'm not going to be gone long, in any case. I just want to find out where that song is coming from.

I round the corner into a smaller area of the playground, and see her sitting before me on a merry-go-round, rotating slowly. She has a summery hat on her head, and her hair is long and lavender in colour. She is dressed in a red and white minidress, with bright white tights concealing her legs, and simple, functional black running shoes on her feet. A small yellow handbag is beside her on the merry-go-round, and beside that is a ball-shaped Pokémon with big eyes, singing its sweet song.

For a moment I simply stand and watch them as they rotate slowly, singing together into the night. After a while, though, the merry-go-round rotates to face me, and the girl looks up at me. Her eyes are large and brown, and seem familiar in some way. She is very pretty, with a straight-pointed nose and lips that are the faintest shade of pink. I stare into her face for a moment, in awe of her beauty.

It is a moment before I realise that she has stopped singing, and the expression in her eyes is one of curiosity. I come to my senses and stumble backward, embarrassed. "Oh, er, sorry miss. I was just… I heard your song, and…"

The girl stands up and takes a couple of steps closer to me, leaving her ball-shaped Pokémon to stare at me with its big eyes. I watch her come closer nervously. Her eyes drift to my waist for a moment, then return to my face. She grins mischievously.

"You're a Pokémon Trainer," she summarises. Her voice is high, like her singing, and has a musical ring to it.

"Yeah," I say. There is an awkward pause while I try and think of something to say back to her. "Are you?" is the best I can come up with.

The girl giggles, and the sound ripples through me like the aroma of a delicious meal. "I am," she confirms with a nod, "and I challenge you to a battle!"

My senses snap back to reality. A battle? Here and now, against this girl?

But a grin spreads across my own face. Battling is something I know a bit about. "You're on," I say, accepting her challenge. My hand reaches to my belt and detaches my newest Poké Ball. My opponent has her Poké Balls clipped to her own yellow belt that sits slightly above her hips. She has three of them, and she chooses the centre one. We stare each other down for a moment, then both throw our Poké Balls into battle at the same time.

"Go, Ralts!" we cry in unison.

Both balls burst open to reveal the same Pokémon. We have each selected to use a Ralts.

The girl giggles again. "Nice choice," she comments. "This should be interesting." Our Ralts eye each other carefully in the centre of the battlefield, waiting for orders from their Trainers.

We both make the cry at the same time. "Ralts, Confusion!"

As one, both Ralts' horns begin to glow, before both are lifted off their feet and dropped painfully to the ground. But both get back to their feet quickly, ready for more.

"Ralts, show it your Confusion is better than theirs!" I command. Ralts' horns begin to glow again as it prepares to attack.

"Ralts, block it with Light Screen!" the girl cries. The other Ralts' horns also begin to glow, and after a moment, the invisible wall it has thrown up flashes brilliantly. When the light clears, it shows the other Ralts completely unharmed. My Ralts' horns stop glowing, and it looks at its opponent in surprise.

"Ralts, don't give up! Use Magical Leaf!" I cry. It takes me a moment to realise that the girl has given her Ralts exactly the same order at exactly the same time as me.

Both Ralts' horns glow once more, and dozens of glowing leaves appear around each of them. The Ralts launch their leaves at the same time, and both connect, knocking both Ralts off their feet. I rush over to my Ralts, who is struggling to breathe, and appears incapable of getting up for the moment.

"Ralts! Are you all right?" I cry. I turn to the girl. "Look what you've done to my Ralts! She's not in good shape at all," I tell her indignantly.

"Hey, you used the same…" the girl begins in annoyance, before stopping. "Your Ralts is a girl?" she asks in mild surprise.

"Yeah, so what?"

"Well, mine is a boy," the girl says with another mischievous grin. "You know, they say if two people fight, they really care about each other. I wonder if it's the same with Pokémon?"

A long, awkward silence follows this proclamation. My gaze drifts from my Ralts, still lying on the floor, to the girl's Ralts, also looking worse for wear, to the girl herself, who is simply standing and staring at me, the mischievous look still on her face.

After a moment, she seems to snap back to life. "Er, well, this match-up isn't getting us anywhere," she summarises, recalling her Ralts.

"My thoughts exactly," I agree, withdrawing my own. I open my mouth to say something more, but the girl clearly has other ideas as she turns to the ball Pokémon sitting on the merry-go-round.

"OK Jigglypuff, you're up," she tells it.

"Jiggly!" the Pokémon cries happily, and jumps down from the merry-go-round. It seems to float down to the ground, as if it is almost as light as the air itself.

"Jigglypuff?" I repeat out loud, extracting my Pokédex and holding it up to the ball Pokémon. But the picture that appears on the Pokédex screen does not resemble Jigglypuff at all. A purple pig-like Pokémon appears with a pink head, curled over itself and with its eyes closed as though sleeping. A pink mist pours from a hole in its skull.

"Musharna," the Pokédex proclaims. "The Drowsing Pokémon. The evolved form of Munna. Using the mist from its forehead, it can create shapes of things from dreams it has eaten."

"Hey, wait a minute," I argue. "That's not the Pokémon I told you to scan."

"Jigglypuff, use Sing!" the girl commands. Jigglypuff eyes glow as it begins to sing once again, the mysterious melody that drew me to this battle ringing out once more.

My eyes grow heavy. "But I…haven't sent out…a Pokémon yet…" I mutter, growing sleepier and sleepier by the second as the song continues to echo through my mind.

"Musha?"

I open my eyes wearily, and see the Pokémon from my Pokédex hovering in front of me, wisps of the pink mist still emanating from its skull.

Immediately I snap awake and stare forward. But the Pokémon has disappeared. I look around for it wildly, then realise that I am sat on the swing again. The clouds have cleared from overhead and the sun blazes down on the playground. It is high in the sky, so it must be near midday. On the swing next to me, Reo is just coming to his senses.

"Ooh, my head…" Reo is saying as he wakes up. He rubs his eyes and stretches widely, then looks over at me. A frown crosses his face. "Luke, why have you got your Pokédex out?"

I look down, and realise that he is right. "I don't know," I admit, replacing it in my pocket. "What happened?"

"I think we must have fallen asleep," Reo summarises, looking around him. "Probably something to do with that pink mist that was in the air. You see? It's gone now, and we're awake."

I nod, barely listening. "Pink mist…" It looked just like the mist that was emitted from Musharna when I looked it up on my Pokédex. Had that really caused me to dream about that girl? So she wasn't real, after all? I sigh to myself. She had seemed real, all right…

I realise that Reo has gotten to his feet, and is looking down on me. "It's probably nothing to worry about. Come on, Luke. We should be getting on our way. We could do with getting to Gaver City before nightfall."

I nod slowly and pull myself to my feet, following Reo as he leads the way across the deserted playground. My mind, however, is still with the girl from my dream. Her unusual-coloured hair, her pretty face, and her voice, so beautiful…

And yet she was only a dream. I never even got to find out her name…


	7. Gaver: City of Mystery

**7.**

**GAVER: CITY OF MYSTERY**

"Face it, Reo: we're lost. Again."

My partner Pokémon frowns at me irritably. The sun is beginning to set in the sky, hidden behind the myriad of tall buildings that surround us. We eventually made it to Gaver City earlier this evening, however neither of us took into account the sheer size of the place. Gaver City is enormous, and full of tall skyscrapers that have been placed ridiculously close together, making the streets between them very narrow and claustrophobic. It is because of this that we now, once again, find ourselves wandering lost, unable to even ask for help from any of the dashing passers-by all dressed in crisp business attire who, like us, are clearly eager to get to somewhere they can rest for the night.

"What did that man say by the entrance? Was it third left or third right that would lead us to the Pokémon Center?" Reo asks.

"I think it was third right," I respond with a shrug of my shoulders.

"No, it was third left, I'm certain of it," Reo disagrees, shaking his head.

"If you already knew the answer then why ask me the question in the first place?" I snap. Reo looks at me, surprised and hurt, and his expression makes me guilty. I sigh heavily. "Sorry, Reo. I'm tired, and hungry. I just want to collapse into a bed somewhere and go to sleep."

"So do I, Luke, but we need to remain in control of our senses," Reo says reasonably. "Why don't we just take the next left turn we come to and see if we can work it out from there," he suggests.

I sigh and nod. "It's as good a plan as any. Don't get freaked out if I cheer really loudly when we see a red roof though, OK?"

Reo chuckles and leads the way towards a street leading off to the left of the one we are on. We make the turning and immediately stop, the way ahead blocked by a crowd of people, who are all muttering excitedly about something. I stand on my tiptoes and attempt to see past them, but can't see anything other than a large empty space in front of one of the tallest buildings in the city. It is made of dark metal and has a large protruding V on the front wall.

A couple of people in the crowd shift slightly, and I take the opportunity to move towards the front, where I find the way ahead blocked by a red velvet rope. Now that I can see the square, I can see more clearly what is going on.

A man is standing with his back towards me facing a cameraman and a woman with a microphone. The man is dressed in a sharp black suit, and wears a black top hat on his head. In his right arm he carries a shiny silver-topped cane. Beneath his hat I can see a protrusion of curled, dark brown hair.

"So, Mr. Victicious," the woman, obviously some sort of interviewer, is saying. "You say that you haven't yet located the miscreants who threatened the townsfolk of Bolderoll City?"

"I'm afraid not," the man responds. His voice sounds oddly familiar. "They continue to elude us. But I urge the general public to be on the lookout for a group of men dressed in black outfits bearing the insignia SPF. If any sightings of these men are made, the police force should be contacted immediately. Do not approach them and do not, under any circumstances, surrender your Pokémon to them."

"You heard the man, folks," the interviewer says to the camera. "Don't give up your Pokémon to anyone. Oh, Mr. Victicious, one more thing…" The man, who has made to walk away from the interviewer, now turns somewhat reluctantly toward her again. "Is there any news on your latest project?"

"Gabby, you know that's top secret…" the man answers.

"Oh please, sir. The public love hearing of your exploits in finding legendary Pokémon."

My curiosity is aroused. Did that woman just mention legendary Pokémon?

"Well, you know how much I adore my public," the man responds dryly. "So I will say this: we have narrowed the potential locations of Victini down to just two. I shall be leaving shortly with my team to search one of them. And no, I won't be revealing where they are," the man adds, and the interviewer closes her mouth in disappointment. "But you can rest assured that, should we find any evidence that Victini has indeed moved here to Silvari, you will be the first to know about it."

Some of the members of the crowd applaud this statement, and the interviewer turns to the camera once again. "Mr. Ramon Victicious, as charming and mysterious as ever, folks. Will our next update bring news of legendary discoveries? Tune in to V-Net next time to find out!"

"And…cut!" the cameraman calls after a pause. "Nice one, Gabby, you look great. As do you, Mr. Victicious, sir."

"Like I care," the man mutters, not troubling too much to keep his voice down. "I shall be taking my leave now." The man turns around, and I see his face for the first time. All at once I realise where I recognise him from. He might have changed his clothes and used a different name, but there's no disguising those piercing, all-seeing brown eyes.

"I don't believe it," I murmur.

"What?" Reo asks, having snuck through the crowd to stand beside me.

I point surreptitiously at the man in the top hat stalking his way towards the building with the V. "Look at him. That man… It's Ben!"

As though he has heard me, Ben suddenly stops and turns to stare straight at me. His expression remains inscrutable, so I have no way of knowing what he is thinking, yet I stare back anyway, intrigued. After a while, Ben turns away and continues to march haughtily towards the building, where a doorman bows and pushes open one of the glistening glass doors for him.

"We've got to get in there," I say to Reo as the crowds begin to dissipate.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Reo asks.

"I dunno, ask nicely?" Before Reo can stop me, I duck under the velvet rope and march up to the doors of the building, where the doorman throws his arm across the door.

"Kid, what do you think you're doing?" the doorman asks. "You can't just march into the headquarters of the most powerful man in Silvari just like that."

"But I…" I begin, but before I can even think up some sort of excuse, a peculiar look passes over the face of the doorman. It's as if he has just been hit over the head with a mallet; he looks a little dazed and groggy, and his eyes glass over.

"Of course. We've been expecting you. Please enter," the doorman says in a lazy voice, pushing open the glass door. I exchange a bemused look with Reo, who shrugs, before following me through the doors and into the building itself.

Inside the building is lavishly decorated, and the reception area I find myself in reminds me forcibly of a ridiculously expensive fancy hotel. I pause for a moment on a rug which probably cost more than my mom will earn in her lifetime. What do I do now?

As if in answer to my unasked question, there is a ping from across the room, and a set of golden elevator doors slide open. I make my way into the elevator and behold the buttons. The building has forty-eight floors, plus a B for basement at the bottom and a P, presumably for penthouse, at the top. As I watch, the P button illuminates all by itself, and there is another ping as the doors close and the elevator begins to ascend.

"Luke, why are we doing this?" Reo asks, a touch of unease in his voice.

"I have to know who this guy is, Reo," I reply. "Every time I see him I just get more and more confused, and I want to know the truth. Plus," I add, "he seems to be hunting Team SPF as well. He might have some information about them we can use."

"That is true," Reo admits. "I'm still not convinced, though. I reckon you're just enamoured with him since he said the words 'legendary Pokémon'."

"I'm not enamoured with anyone," I say with a scowl.

The elevator pings again and the doors slide open. I make to exit, but stop when I find someone blocking my way. As my eyes scan her appearance, I feel them growing wider and wider with wonder. The girl in my way has lavender hair, brown eyes and a very pretty face. She is dressed in a red and white minidress, white tights, black running shoes and a summery hat with a wide brim. She carries a small yellow handbag, which is slung over her left shoulder.

There's no mistaking her. It's the girl from my dream.

"Oh! I'm sorry," the girl says when she sees us, a little embarrassed. She stands to the side to let us pass, and looks down at the floor, pushing a strand of her unusual-coloured hair off of her face. I proceed out of the elevator, but find myself unable to take my eyes off her the whole time. As Reo and I leave the elevator she enters it and presses a button on the side, still avoiding my eye. The elevator pings and the doors slide shut, taking her out of my eyesight. For a moment I continue to stare at the doors, an excited feeling spreading through me. She is real after all…

"Luke Norton of Tranila Town."

I jump at the sound of the voice and turn around, beholding for the first time the lavish surroundings of the penthouse. The room is furnished with big, leather sofas and squashy armchairs, and the walls are lined with bookshelves, except for the wall opposite us, which is made completely of glass and offers an unrestricted view of the dusk sky and the cityscape below. A grand piano stands in the centre of the room, and just in front of this, reclined comfortably on a deep burgundy leather sofa, is Ben himself. He has removed his top hat, which now sits atop his cane, propped against the piano, and undone his bow tie and top button, making him look oddly casual in such a formal outfit.

"Have a seat, Luke. Make yourself at home," Ben offers, gesturing to the surroundings. I remain motionless, feeling extremely out of place in this wealthy man's penthouse.

"What am I doing here?" I wonder out loud, doubting my decision to follow Ben into the building for the first time.

"I invited you here," Ben answers, and I look towards him again. His expression remains inscrutable. "You need somewhere to rest for the night, do you not?"

"Well…yeah, but I was thinking more the Pokémon Center, not a place like this…"

"And yet this is the place you come across first," Ben muses. "What does that say, hm?"

"I don't know…" I respond, feeling stupid.

"It says that you would prefer the comforts of the penthouse of Mr. Ramon Victicious than the simple amenities of a common Pokémon Center," Ben says in answer to his own question.

My mind fixes on a part of his speech. "Ramon Victicious… That's what they call you, right? Who is he supposed to be, your alter-ego? Is Ben your secret identity or something?"

An impressed smile breaks across Ben's face. "You really are perceptive," he notes. "I suppose that's a fairly accurate summary. The disguise is a little deeper than that, though."

"In what way?"

"If I was to get changed now, and go downstairs as Ben, rather than as Ramon Victicious, the people outside wouldn't recognise me. The crowd, the TV crew, even the doorman wouldn't let me back inside. They'd see me as a completely different person."

"Why?"

"My psychic powers," Ben answers simply. "Being a celebrity is very tedious. All the interviews, all the autographs, people wanting to know every tiny detail of your life. What you're wearing today, what Pokémon you've caught most recently, who you've been seen out in public with. It's extremely difficult to live a normal life with all that going on around you. So I become Ben when I want to escape, when I just want to roam the region as a normal Pokémon Trainer, just like you do."

"So why do you even have this celebrity persona in the first place?" I wonder out loud, posing the question to Ben at the same time.

"I have my reasons."

"And they are?" I press.

Ben changes the subject. "But you fascinate me, Luke. You are the only person I've met, other than a fellow Psychic, who sees through my disguise. When you saw me in that square just now, you recognised me instantly, despite my psychic cloak. I want to know why that is."

"Search me," I say with a shrug. "I'm obviously just special."

"Oh, you are, Luke. More special than you yet realise," says Ben, a very serious expression now written on his face.

"How do you mean?" I ask quietly.

Ben stretches and checks his watch. "It's getting late. You must be tired, Luke." He looks at me hard, and I find myself yawning.

"Yeah, I guess I am," I admit.

Ben points behind him. "Down that corridor, there's a spare bedroom right at the end. You'll find there's a bed made up for you and one for Reo. Bathroom is the first door on the left as you head down the corridor. And yes, that's definitely the FIRST on the left," he adds with a smile. "Not the third."

A while later, I have changed into my pyjamas and lie in my temporary bed, which is soft and squashy and extremely comfortable. Reo's bed is untouched, and my partner seems wide awake, pacing the room back and forth.

"I don't like this," he says for at least the tenth time.

"You sound like a broken record," I say with another yawn, rolling onto my back.

"Do you honestly trust this guy, Luke?"

"Sure, why not?" I say with a shrug. "He seems genuine enough."

"He uses a psychic cloak to deceive people into thinking he's two different people."

"OK, aside from that."

"And whenever you try and ask him anything about himself, he changes the subject."

I roll over to look at Reo again. "Look, some people don't like talking about themselves, OK? It's like if anyone asks me anything about my dad…"

I stop myself, the words sticking in my throat. Reo looks over at me curiously. "Your dad?" Reo asks, speaking softly, yet his voice betrays a hint of interest. I have sparked his curiosity now.

"I'm not going to talk about him, so don't bother," I mutter quietly, turning away.

There is a pause before Reo responds. "Very well. In that case, I won't raise the subject again. But I do know what you mean about people not wanting to talk about their past…"

I look back over at Reo. Now it's my turn to be curious. "What do you mean by that?" I ask him.

"You should get some sleep. I'll make sure nothing and no one comes in during the night."

"You're doing it now," I say to him with a smile.

"Doing what?"

"Changing the subject when you don't like the topic of conversation."

Reo chuckles quietly. "Goodnight, Luke."

"Goodnight Reo."

I awaken later in the night. Reo has fallen asleep on the floor, evidently not wanting to leave his unnecessary guard duty. I can hear what sounds like music coming from down the corridor. I listen, and with a shiver of surprise recognise the voice of the girl from my dream, the same girl who I saw leaving the penthouse as I arrived earlier.

Quietly, I get out of bed and step over Reo towards the door. I pull the door open and proceed cautiously down the corridor, coming to a stop just before I enter the main living area, and beholding the sight that greets me with wonder.

The moonlight from outside spills through the glass wall, illuminating the area with ethereal white light. Ben is sat at the grand piano, his Espeon on his lap, playing a soft musical melody, to which the girl, dressed in a lavender nightdress that matches her hair, is singing along. She is seated on a leather pouffe, her Jigglypuff on her own lap, the reflection of the full moon illuminated in its large eyes. I stand and watch for a moment, beholding the beauty of the scene.

Ben stops playing for a moment and the girl stops singing. He looks over at her.

"Excellent, Luna. Now let's try that again, in C Major this time."

The girl, Luna, nods, and Ben begins to play again, a livelier melody this time. Luna continues to harmonise with the melody, bringing out its inner beauty. So many emotions run through her voice and the song itself, but the predominating one I feel is joy. Joy that I have finally found the girl from my dream, and that she is not indeed mere fantasy after all.

I gaze across the room, and jump slightly. Both Ben and Espeon are looking directly at me, though Ben continues to play. Luna's eyes are closed, as she loses herself in her own music, but I cannot tear my own eyes away from the piercing gaze of the man at the piano, a gaze that makes me recoil slightly and yet at the same time I find myself drawn into.

Ben plays the final note and Luna opens her eyes once more. Ben looks over at her, and a smile breaks across his face.

"That was beautiful, Luna, as ever. You have a truly wondrous voice." Luna blushes slightly.

"Thanks, Mr. Victicious," she says modestly.

"I think that will be all for tonight. Go and get some sleep."

Jigglypuff jumps down from Luna's lap and she gets to her feet. She holds out her hand to Ben, who takes it in his own and raises it to his lips. He kisses her hand and releases it, and Luna blushes even more at this.

"Goodnight, Luna."

"Goodnight, Mr. Victicious. Sweet dreams." With this she turns away and proceeds down a corridor at the other end of the room, presumably towards her own bedroom. Ben watches her go and waits until he hears the sound of her door close before turning his gaze back to me.

"Sit down, Luke." His expression is inscrutable once more. This time I obey the request and move across to sit on the pouffe Luna had vacated just a moment previously.

"Who is she?" I ask before I can stop myself.

"Her name is Luna McKowski, an orphan formerly left to roam the streets of Gaver City. I took her in almost a year ago, and have acted as her mentor in both music and Pokémon training since then."

"I've seen her before…" I begin to say.

"You dreamed of her, did you not?" Ben looks at me long and hard. "Passing through Musharna's Playground. I can see it in your mind… You dreamed of battling against Luna."

"Yes," I concede, unable to deny the facts he sees in my thoughts. "But why would I do that? How could I dream about someone I haven't even met yet?"

"Musharna's power is mystical and beyond understanding," Ben says with a shake of his head. "I assume there is a reason it would have introduced you to Luna in this way."

I glance over at the corridor down which Luna disappeared, then back to Ben. "Are you and her…" I begin once more.

Ben laughs – the first time I have heard him do so. "No, we are not. As beautiful as she is…she really isn't my type."

I try not to look too pleased about this, then realise that Ben can see my true emotions in my mind anyway. "Who are you, Ben?" I ask now, turning my attention back to the mysterious Trainer who sits at the piano before me.

Ben scrutinises me long and hard before answering. "I am on your side, Luke. A friend. That's all you need to know. But I promise you can trust me." He stands up and walks over to the glass wall, Espeon prowling close behind him. I have a million more questions I want to ask, but I sense that he is ready to end the conversation.

"You really should be getting back to bed," Ben says without turning to look at me, confirming my suspicion. "You intend to set out for Verdate City tomorrow, correct? The road through Translucent Cave is long and arduous, and you will need to be at full strength before you can even think about taking it on."

I slouch back across the room heading towards my bed for the night. As I am about to proceed down the corridor I turn one last time and behold him, still standing motionless at the window, staring out into the night. Ben may claim that he is on my side, and that he can be trusted, but in that moment I make a vow. I will find out the truth about him, and the secrets he is hiding, and then I will make my own judgment on the mysterious and powerful Trainer who reminds me so much of my own father, a man I had sought to erase all trace of from my life until now.


	8. Team SPF's Translucent Plot

**8.**

**TEAM SPF'S TRANSLUCENT PLOT**

I awaken the following morning and behold my surroundings in confusion for a moment, wondering where I am. Then the memories of last night come flooding back in one big rush: I am in Ben's penthouse in Gaver City, which he runs under the name of Ramon Victicious, the most powerful man in Silvari. I glance across and see that Reo is still fast asleep, and has been placed into his own bed – a feat that, I assume, was not done by my partner himself.

I scramble out of bed and begin to get dressed, pondering all the new information I have received over the past twenty-four hours. After a moment, I frown to myself and shake my head firmly. Luke, you're a Pokémon Trainer, not a journalist, I tell myself. It's none of your business how this guy lives his life. Get a grip, stop worrying about him and focus on your own journey.

This thought sustains me as I continue my preparations. Eventually I am ready to go and turn to my partner, still fast asleep.

"Come on, Reo, it's time to go," I say, shaking him gently.

Reo lets out a deep sigh and stretches, opening his eyes. "Good. I can't say I'm not looking forward to leaving this place." Reo climbs out of bed, neglecting to make it up again after him, and walks over to stand by my side. "Let's go, Luke. Verdate City awaits."

"We have to get through Translucent Cave first," I remind him as we leave the room and head back down the corridor. "I've heard it's a day's hike at least, and that's assuming we don't get slowed down by too many wild Pokémon."

I approach the elevator doors that will take me back down to the ground floor and stop, something on a nearby table catching my eye. There are two pieces of paper, one folded up and one left open with writing upon it. I notice my name at the top and pick it up curiously:

_Luke,_

_I'm sorry I'm not here to see you off this morning. I've had to leave early to search one of the possible locations of Victini, and I didn't want to wake you._

_I know you find Gaver City confusing at the best of times, so I have left you a little present to help you find your way to Translucent Cave. I've also saved my number in your Xtransciever. If ever you need me for anything, then you are welcome to give me a call._

_Farewell…for now,_

_Ben_

I pick up the second, folded piece of paper and unfold it. Something white slides out, and Reo catches it. It appears to be a plain CD, with nothing special about it. I turn my attention back to the paper, and upon examining it, am unable to suppress a laugh when I see that Ben has left me a detailed map of Gaver City, with full directions on how to reach Translucent Cave. I pocket the map, grateful of his help, and call the elevator.

Later, Reo and I stand outside the mouth of Translucent Cave. Contrary to its name, the cave is not near see-through at all, and all I can see stretching out in front of me is darkness. I pause, feeling more than a jot of trepidation about entering such a place.

"We have to get through there eventually," Reo says reasonably, "otherwise we'll be stuck in Gaver City for the rest of our lives."

"It's so dark, though…" I mutter. "How are we supposed to see in there?"

Reo chuckles and holds up the CD we found inside the folds of the map earlier. "Do you know what this is, Luke?"

I look at it closely, racking my brains for a clue. Something from one of my Pokémon trainer classes at school comes to the surface, and I take the disc from Reo.

"It's a Technical Machine, isn't it?" I ask.

"That's right. It's catalogued at number seventy, which if my memory serves me…"

"That's the TM for Flash. All right!" Reo looks somewhat put out that I have recalled the move contained within the disc before him. "So if I teach this to one of my Pokémon, they can light up the cave, right?"

"That's right," Reo says with a nod. "But be careful who you teach Flash to. Remember, we Pokémon can only recall four moves at a time, and Flash will take up one of them."

I ponder this for a moment, before my hand moves to my belt and I unclip the Poké Ball containing my newest Pokémon.

"Go, Ralts!" I call, tossing the ball to the ground. It bursts open to reveal my little psychic Pokémon, looking pleased at the prospect of getting out of her Poké Ball for a while.

"Ralts!" she cries happily.

I kneel down beside her. "Here, Ralts. I need you to do a really important job for me. I need you to act as our light while we go through this cave, all right?" I offer the TM to her.

Ralts looks at the disc in my hand, then up at my face. She gives a smile and nods in acceptance.

"Thank you, Ralts." I attach the TM to her skull, and Ralts frowns in concentration for a moment. Her little body vibrates as she absorbs the new move, before finally smiling once more. The transfer is done, and I detach the TM and slot it into my bag.

"Come on then, let's go," I say, and Reo, Ralts and I enter the cave together. At first we move forward slowly, using the light from the cave entrance to guide us as it gradually grows darker and darker. We come to a wall blocking our way and I notice that the tunnel curves to the left. We follow this path and are immediately plunged into total darkness, now out of the range of the light from the entrance.

"OK Ralts, light up the path," I command. Ralts nods and the horns on her head begin to glow. A ball of light appears and hovers in the air. I watch it for a moment, then feel my breath catch in my throat. My eyes have travelled up to the ceiling of the cave, and I feel a cold shiver run down my spine as I behold several hundred Zubat hanging from the ceiling, asleep. Yet their very presence there unnerves me.

"Wow, that's a scary sight," I mutter to Reo, indicating above.

"We should move slowly and quietly," Reo whispers in response. "I don't fancy our chances against all those Zubat."

Following my partner's instructions, we move forward slowly, careful not to make too much noise. I am inwardly thankful that Zubat are blind, otherwise I worry that we would have disturbed them by now thanks to Ralts' light. Eventually we come upon a crossroads in the path, and I scan each path for a moment, wondering which to take.

"Now which way do we go?" I think out loud. As I say this, I notice the ground ahead begin to rumble slightly. I watch it warily, before a small hole appears and a little head pokes itself out.

"Shrew?" the little Pokémon says before pulling the rest of its body out of the hole. I recognise it from my battle against Tony in Bolderoll Gym.

"A Sandshrew!" I say in excited surprise, almost forgetting to keep my voice down. I reach for my belt, intending to battle and hopefully capture it, but Reo holds my arm back.

"That's probably not wise," he advises. "For one, your shouts and commands will probably wake up the Zubat. And for another thing, it might be better to leave it be and follow it. The Pokémon of these parts will know the layout here better than we do. It might just lead us towards the exit."

"Hey, you're right," I agree, turning to watch Sandshrew, who is now scurrying away down the path opposite us. I begin to follow it, Ralts and Reo just behind, but keeping my distance so as not to startle it. We follow the Sandshrew in this fashion down what feels like several more miles of tunnel, before finally turning right and passing through a large rocky archway into an enormous chamber.

"What is this?" Reo asks out loud, and I am surprised to hear the anger in his voice, until I get a good look at the surroundings myself.

The chamber is large and circular, and around the edges several more archways lead into other areas of the cave. The centre is tiered like a stadium or coliseum, going down deeper and deeper until finally reaching a flat point at the bottom. In this flat area, a group of men in black outfits and bearing torches are working around an enormous device made of metal and similar in appearance to the bulb of a large flower. I stare at the men in black, easily recognisable because of their tall hats and the insignia on the front of their outfits.

"Team SPF…" I mutter, my own voice now full of loathing. "What are they doing here?"

"I don't know, but I don't imagine it's anything good," Reo responds. "What do you think we should do, Luke?"

"It's obvious, isn't it? We have to find out what they're doing and stop them," I respond. "Not necessarily in that order, though!" Without a second thought I get to my feet and begin to leap down the many rocky tiers of the room, heading for the group of men in the centre.

At the sound of my thuds, several of the men closest to me turn to behold me as I eventually land in front of them. One of the men turns to the man next to him.

"It's a kid," he mutters, and the other man laughs, before both of them turn back towards the large metal device.

"Team SPF," I call. "Whatever you're up to, it stops, right now. If you don't leave willingly, then I'll have no choice but to make you leave." Reo and Ralts, who have by this time come down to join me, both nod in agreement.

The Team SPF members laugh, and one of those nearest me pulls a Poké Ball from his belt. "Oh yeah?" he challenges menacingly. "We'll just see about that, kid."

"Stop!" cries a voice from the other side of the device. "Let me see this kid!"

A man emerges from around the device, and I can tell instantly that he is the leader of this particular group of Team SPF members. Like his fellow commander, Greson, this man does not wear a hat like his underlings, however his attire is also different. He has on a black leather jacket bearing the SPF insignia and leather trousers, and high-topped boots with spikes on. His hair is bright red, and is styled into one large tower, which is perfectly flat at the top. He wears a large gold earring in his right ear, and the overall appearance is of some sort of biker, or other kind of stereotypically rebellious group.

"Now, let me see…" the guy says in a drawling voice. "Dark hair, check. Stupid hat, check. Works with a lanky dog thing, check. I knew it!" The guy places his hands on his hips and leans closer to me. "You're that same kid that messed with Greson in Bolderoll City!"

"Yup," I confirm. "The name's Luke. You'll probably want to remember that, as I've shown up in your way again."

"Why should I care about some insignificant fly," the man jeers. "Greson's always been an inconsistent fool. That's why they trust the really important jobs to me. I am the reliable one: Reddic of the Silvari Pokémon Force, that's me."

"Reddic…" I repeat. "Well, can't say it's particularly nice to meet you, but I guess that's an introduction of sorts. What are you doing here?"

"We have been assigned here by our lord and master, the head honcho of Team SPF," Reddic replies simply.

"To do what?"

"You know the motto of Team SPF, don't you?" Reddic asks.

As one, Reddic and the rest of the Team SPF members raise their right arm and place it across their chest, before raising their fists to the sky and reciting: "We are the Silvari Pokémon Force! We will take all the Silvari Pokémon by Force!"

Reddic lowers his arm and grins at me. "So that's our mission. And what better place to start than in this Pokémon-infested, frankly quite vile cavern?"

"So you're gonna round up all the Pokémon in this cave and catch them?" I conclude, slightly mockingly. "How do you expect to do that?"

"Simple. With this." Reddic points at the metal monolith behind him.

"And what exactly is that?"

"This is one of our patented Team SPF RadarSnagger devices," Reddic explains. "When activated, it sends out a radiographic pulse that attracts all Pokémon within a two mile radius. Once the Pokémon gather in the centre of the device, the RadarSnagger automatically transfers them to Team SPF HQ, where our master Pokémon catchers are standing by ready to make them ours."

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" Reo cries. Before I can say anything more to him he leaps over Reddic and stands next to the RadarSnagger, before raising his right palm and striking the machine with a powerful Force Palm attack.

The blow does not even dent the metal device, and the force of the impact sends Reo staggering backwards. "What? How is that possible?" he wonders out loud.

The Team SPF members are laughing, and Reddic himself joins in. "Nice try, mutt." Out of the pocket of his jacket, he pulls a remote control. "I've got full control of the RadarSnagger, and the Poké-proof force field that surrounds it."

"Not for much longer," I challenge, detaching a Poké Ball from my belt.

Reddic looks at it in amusement. "Are you challenging me?" he asks incredulously.

"Yeah. If I win, you disable the device and get out of here."

"Deal," Reddic says with a laugh. He reaches inside his leather jacket and pulls out a Poké Ball of his own. He throws it to the ground. "Go, Graveler!"

A large grey rocky Pokémon with four arms bursts from the ball. "Graveler," it growls menacingly. As usual, I pull my Pokédex from my pocket and hold it up to the new encounter.

"Graveler. The Rock Pokémon. The evolved form of Geodude. A slow walker, it instead rolls to move. It pays no attention to any object that happens to be in its path."

"Easy," I say confidently. I throw my own Poké Ball into the mix. "Go, Sewaddle!" The Poké Ball opens and Sewaddle bursts out, shaking its leafy hood in an attempt to intimidate its foe.

Graveler shows no signs of intimidation, and neither does Reddic, who simply laughs. "Is that what you call a Pokémon?"

"Don't underestimate me, Reddic," I warn. "That overconfidence is the same reason Greson lost to me not just once, but twice."

"You've got a big mouth for such a small kid," Reddic comments. "Graveler, crush this measly little bug! Rock Throw attack!"

Bug, I think to myself in alarm. Bugs are weak to Rock-type attacks. Graveler pulls a chunk of rock out of the floor with its powerful arms and hurls it at Sewaddle.

"Sewaddle, use String Shot on that rock to slow it down!" I cry. Sewaddle heeds my words and opens its mouth wide, spewing forth tangles of string that impede the progress of the rock. Though it still collides with my Pokémon, Sewaddle gets back to its feet straight away, still with plenty of gas left in the tank.

"Nice one, Sewaddle!" I call in praise. "Now hit it with a Razor Leaf!"

"Waddle!" Sewaddle ruffles its hood again, this time sending out a swarm of leaves from underneath. Graveler and Reddic watch on in bemusement as the leaves fly forth and contact Graveler, sending it flying backwards where it collides with two Team SPF members, knocking them down. As Graveler struggles to get back to its feet and continue the battle, I sense that victory may be drawing near.

"Do it again, Sewaddle!"

"Graveler, return!" Reddic calls, recalling his Pokémon just as a second flurry of leaves fly by, instead contacting with the two Team SPF members that still lie on the floor from the force of being hit by the large rock Pokémon.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I call out to Reddic, affronted.

"It's not against the rules to switch your Pokémon around mid-match," Reddic sneers, returning Graveler's Poké Ball to his jacket and pulling out another. I say nothing more, grudgingly acknowledging that he is right.

"Go, Golbat!" Reddic cries, throwing his new Poké Ball into battle. A large bat Pokémon with an enormous mouth breaks free and begins to flap its wings hard, hovering above the ground.

"Gol!" it cries loudly, and I hold my Pokédex up to it for more information.

"Golbat. The Bat Pokémon. The evolved form of Zubat. It attacks in a stealthy manner, without warning. Its sharp fangs are used to bite and suck blood."

"Luke, Golbat is a Flying Pokémon!" Reo calls to me urgently. "Sewaddle doesn't stand a chance!"

He's right, I realise, and bring out my own Poké Ball, intending to switch out Sewaddle and bring in another Pokémon.

But Reddic has other ideas. "Your little bug's not going anywhere! Golbat, Mean Look!" Golbat sends forth a piercing glare from its eyes, which lock with Sewaddle's. My little Pokémon is unable to move, and trembling visibly.

"Sewaddle, return!" I call desperately, but the beam of light from the Poké Ball simply bounces off. I try again and again, but I cannot recall my Pokémon.

Reddic is laughing at me. "You can't recall it once Golbat's fixed it with a Mean Look!" he jeers. "OK Golbat, now use Supersonic!"

Golbat opens its huge mouth as wide as it will go and emits a horrible, wailing noise that reverberates all around the chamber. I clap my hands over my ears, as do many of the surrounding Team SPF members, until the sound eventually dies down.

I remove my hands from over my ears. Across from me, I see Reddic do the same thing. He looks at his Pokémon in a disgruntled manner. "Are you sure that was the right frequency?" he asks it.

"Gol," Golbat replies defiantly.

"Uh, boss?" one of the Team SPF members chips in. "Can you hear that?" I strain my ears and listen, and all around me I can hear what sounds like a thousand flapping wings, as well as a myriad of other screechy cries.

Suddenly, from every entrance to the room, hundreds of Zubat start to pour into the main chamber and fly towards us. I dive to the floor and cover Sewaddle as Reo ducks behind me, but the Zubat do not aim for us. As one, they swoop towards Reddic and Golbat and the rest of the Team SPF members and begin to attack them, biting with their mouths and using their wings.

"Aargh!" cries Reddic as one of the Zubat bites his wrist, causing him to drop the RadarSnagger remote onto the floor, where it shatters into many tiny pieces. The RadarSnagger itself flashes with a spark of yellow light. It appears that its force field has faded.

Reo gets to his feet. "Allow me," he calls over the noise of the Zubat and the cries from the Team SPF members, who have begun to flee the scene, pursued by the angry awakened bat Pokémon. Reo brings his hands to the side of him and conjures up a ball of energy, which he fires at the RadarSnagger. The Aura Sphere hits the machine and destroys it, and all that remains is a few blackened pieces of metal.

"NO!" Reddic cries, as he too is forced to retreat backwards from the thronging Zubat. As he is about to disappear through one of the archways, he turns and glares at me angrily. "This is not the last you will see of us, Luke! I will get you back for this!" With that he is forced through the archway and out of sight. Their work completed, the rest of the Zubat now fly back to their resting places, intending to continue their daytime slumber.

I continue to stare at the archway through which Reddic was chased. "You know, that wasn't actually my fault, for once," I say with slight annoyance. "These Team SPF morons… Won't they ever learn?"

"Ral…" Ralts offers sadly from down by my feet.

I look over at Reo, who stands proudly over the destroyed remains of the RadarSnagger. "I highly doubt it," he responds. "We'll be seeing them again, I'm sure. I doubt they'll give up this ridiculous plot of theirs no matter how many times we defeat them."

"Well, if we keep battling them, the least we can do is slow them down," I say, my resolve now set. I am determined to hound Team SPF to the end, no matter the cost. No one deserves to suffer because of their selfish purpose.

"Sandshrew!"

I look down at my feet and notice the Sandshrew I saw earlier standing there.

"Hey! Sandshrew!" I say in surprise. "Boy am I glad to see you again. Do you think you can show us the way out of this cave?"

"Sandshrew!" Sandshrew cries in delight, and without another word it scurries across to the far side of the room.

I follow it, recalling Sewaddle and turning to Reo as I do so, the light from Ralts' Flash move illuminating his proud expression.

"You know, if we keep this up, I'll bet we can get out of this cave by the end of the day. We'll be in Verdate City before you know it."

"And once there, we'll challenge the Gym Leader for a Badge," Reo continues.

"Are you…mad at me, Reo?"

Reo turns to me in surprise. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"Is this really what you want, too? To go around battling Gym Leaders and collecting Badges?"

Reo considers for a moment. "Well, I must admit, I did get a thrill of excitement when we defeated Tony back in Bolderoll City…"

"You mean when you defeated Tony," I correct. "I didn't have much to do with that."

"No, Luke," Reo says, shaking his head. "You had everything to do with that. Without your masterful guidance, tactics and skill, we would never have achieved that victory. Defeating Tony was something we all did together as a team, and I know that we can do the same thing again."

I can't help but smile at this. Reo is right, I think to myself. We're all part of this team, and the Verdate City Gym Leader better watch out, 'cause they're next on our team's hit list.


	9. Bountiful Badge Battle!

**9.**

**BOUNTIFUL BADGE BATTLE!**

Finally, after what feels like an eternity of following Sandshrew through narrow, winding tunnels, fending off the occasional attack from a rabid Zubat, we finally emerge from Translucent Cave and arrive on the small bank leading down to Verdate City. Night has fallen, and the city, which to my relief is clearly much smaller than Gaver City, is illuminated by the lights that line the streets and which shine from the windows of many of the buildings. I can see the Gym from my position, located at the furthest point of the city, while the Pokémon Center lies on the western edge.

I turn to Sandshrew, who has not left the shelter of the cave, and kneel down beside it, smiling gratefully. "Thank you, Sandshrew. Without your help, we would still be lost in that cave."

"Shrew…" Sandshrew says, giving a yawn.

"You know Sandshrew, it'd be great to have a Pokémon like you on my team," I offer. "What do you say, buddy?"

Sandshrew yawns again and turns away from us, walking back into the darkness of the cave. I stare at it for a moment, feeling a little rejected.

"OK, I guess go and get some rest then," I mutter, straightening up. I turn to Reo, who is looking at me strangely. "What's up?" I ask him.

"Nothing," Reo replies. "It's just the way you act. You offer Sandshrew the opportunity to join you, rather than battle it and force it to do so. A capture would likely have been fairly straightforward – you saw how tired it was."

"Exactly. I didn't think it was fair," I explain. "I wonder why it turned me down…"

"Some Pokémon prefer to live in the wild," Reo explains. "Some don't want to feel as though they have to serve one person for the rest of their lives, least of all a human. They're happy the way they are. That's why some Pokémon put up a tremendous fight to break out of an attempted capture, even after they have been weakened too much to actively battle, while others accept it fairly readily."

Whilst talking, we have walked down the bank and now make our way through the streets towards the Pokémon Center. The cool night air is thick with the sounds of nocturnal Pokémon: chirping and hooting and many other strange noises. At last we proceed up the steps and enter the large building. I glance at the clock and see that it has just gone ten pm. I proceed over to the counter and speak to the nurse.

"Hi, have you got any rooms free for tonight?" I ask her.

"Of course," she replies. "Follow me." The nurse leads Reo and me to a small but comfortable room similar to those I have been getting to know through staying in Pokémon Centers throughout my journey. Exhausted from my trip through Translucent Cave, I change into my pyjamas and climb into bed. I place my Xtransciever onto the bedside table, then stop and look at it for a moment.

"I think I'll call mom," I say to Reo, who has curled up on the rug on the floor to sleep, "just to let her know I'm OK."

Mom is, as usual, ecstatic when she answers the call, and so delighted to see me that she forgets she is drying her hair and drops the hairdryer onto the floor, destroying it immediately. She listens, pride filling her eyes as I recount my visit to Gaver City and my trip through Translucent Cave, and when I tell her I have reached Verdate City and am heading out tomorrow to challenge for another Gym Badge, she applauds me once more, dropping the Xtransciever again.

"I'm sorry, honey," she says after she picks the device back up and regains her composure. "I'm just so excited for you. Look at you, gone less than a week and you've already made it to Verdate City."

"Well, it hasn't been easy, and there've been people try and slow me down along the way…" I admit.

"Oh yes, I heard something on the news about that Silvari Pokémon Force you mentioned," mom says. "It says they're dangerous and we shouldn't go near them, and we shouldn't surrender our Pokémon to them no matter how they threaten us."

"They are dangerous, and there's no way you should give away your Pokémon to them," I agree. "But someone's got to make a stand against them, mom. I already beat one of their commanders twice and sort of beat another one back in the cave."

"I understand that, and I'm not trying to stop you from standing up for what's right, but please be careful, Luke. Don't get yourself in deeper than you can climb out."

"I won't, mom, I promise."

"That's good to hear. Goodnight, Luke. I love you."

"Love you too, mom."

"So Luke, what will your strategy be for battling the Verdate City Gym Leader?" Reo asks. It is the following morning, and Reo and I are sat in the cafeteria at the Pokémon Center, enjoying a mug of coffee before we head out for our Gym Battle.

I ponder this question, and try and recall everything I can remember from school about the Gym Leaders of the Silvari region. As much as I try, I can't put a name to the Leader of Verdate Gym. I do, however, remember the type of Pokémon they prefer.

"Well, the Gym Leader here uses Grass-type Pokémon," I say, thinking things out loud. "That means that both Starly and Sewaddle have an advantage against them. Plus, they'll both likely only take a little damage from any Grass-type attacks their Pokémon use. The battle is best of three rounds, right? I think if I use Starly and Sewaddle, then hopefully I should have the battle won before round three."

"And if you don't?"

I smile at my partner. "Well, then I guess you'll have to mop up whatever's left, won't you, Reo?"

Reo chuckles. "I'll look forward to it," he says, sipping his coffee.

After we've both finished our drinks, and I have had my team restored by the nurse at the Pokémon Center, I lead the way across to the city's Gym, which lies at the back of town. The Gym is made entirely of glass, like a greenhouse, and is full of various plants and trees which grow around the outside, leaving a large clear space in the middle to battle upon. On the far wall, as in Tony's Gym, the Gym's emblem is depicted, with the Pokémon League logo in the centre. Beneath this is another throne, in which someone sits, currently engrossed in a book.

I knock on the large glass doors of the Gym, and the person in the throne looks up. "Come in," a female voice calls, and the Gym's doors open.

I step across the threshold and move towards the centre of the arena. The Gym Leader closes her book and places it on the arm of the chair, before standing up and moving across to me. She stops opposite me, standing in a rectangle made up of flowers, and I get a proper look at her for the first time. She is reasonably pretty and fairly young. Her long black hair falls down behind her head, and the light from the glass ceiling coupled with the reflections from the grass gives it an almost greenish tinge. She is dressed in a simple green dress, and as I look, she smiles at me in a friendly way.

"Welcome to the Verdate City Pokémon Gym," she says. Her voice is quiet and not as high-pitched as I was expecting. "What is your name, challenger?"

"I'm Luke Norton from Tranila Town," I announce.

"Welcome, Luke. I am Heather, the Gym Leader here," Heather announces, curtseying politely. "I take it you've already earned the Valley Badge from Tony at Bolderoll City?"

I open my jacket and show her my Valley Badge, and she nods in recognition. "Very good. I don't need to run through the rules of a Gym Battle with you again then, do I?"

"Nope, I remember. Three one-on-one rounds, first to win two rounds wins, right?"

Heather giggles and smiles at me. "You sure catch on fast. If you're ready, then we'll begin."

I move to stand in the second flower rectangle, and turn to face Heather. The atmosphere in this Gym is a lot calmer than in Bolderoll City. Or maybe that's just because I've already earned my first Gym Badge. What do I have to lose?

"Good luck, Luke," Reo murmurs from behind me.

"Thanks Reo," I tell him gratefully. "All right, let's get rolling." I detach a Poké Ball from my belt. "For my first round Pokémon, I choose Starly!" I toss the ball into the grassy battlefield and release my bird Pokémon, who flutters up and hovers above the ground, facing Heather confidently.

"Another bird Pokémon…" Heather muses. "You wouldn't believe how many of those I see, day in and day out. I even had someone battle me with a flying squirrel Pokémon, of all things, yesterday. Molly, I think its Trainer called it."

I sigh inwardly at hearing this. Elliot's still ahead of me, then…

"But this one I know something about," Heather says with a smile, selecting her own Poké Ball. "And to combat it, I'll use…Roselia!"

Heather daintily throws her Poké Ball into battle opposite Starly, and it bursts open to reveal a small green Pokémon with three points on its head, and a differently-coloured flower on the end of each of its arms. I extract my Pokédex.

"Roselia. The Thorn Pokémon. The beautiful flowers on its arms are covered with toxic thorns. Roselia raised on clean drinking water are known to grow vividly coloured flowers."

I examine Heather's Roselia. Its flowers seem bright and colourful enough. At least Heather knows how to treat her Pokémon, I think to myself.

"OK Roselia, plant your roots in the ground!" Heather commands.

I watch, fascinated as roots emerge from Roselia's feet and sink into the ground. "What's it doing?" I ask Reo.

"Ingrain. It plants its roots in the ground to absorb nutrients, making it unable to move but restoring its health during the battle," Reo explains.

"If it can't move, then it's as good as down," I say confidently. "All right, Starly, Wing Attack!"

Starly swoops down towards Roselia and slaps it twice, once with each wing. Roselia looks severely buffeted, as though the attack has inflicted heavy damage, and a grin crosses my face for a moment, before I look closer and see that Starly is not flying as well as she was. There seems to be something small and sharp stuck in her right wing.

"Oh, no!" I cry. "Starly must have contacted with one of the thorns on Roselia's arms!"

Heather giggles. "That's Roselia's Poison Point ability. Your Pokémon's poisoned, and I haven't even attacked you yet!" I grit my teeth and watch on as the poison slowly drains Starly's strength, while all the while Roselia restores its own via the nutrients it absorbs with its Ingrain move.

"Roselia, Magical Leaf!" Heather commands. I recognise the attack as the glowing leaves appear around Roselia and it prepares to fire.

"Starly, dodge it with Double Team!" I order. Starly uses its familiar move and begins to fly back and forth rapidly, creating several illusory copies of itself to confuse Roselia. Roselia fires its glowing leaves, and to my dismay and amazement, all of them strike the genuine Starly, who crashes to the floor, all of its illusory copies fading in an instant.

"Hee hee! And that's why they call it MAGICAL Leaf!" Heather cries with another giggle. "It never misses, no matter how you try and dodge it!"

"Starly…" I groan, watching my little bird Pokémon flap its wings in desperation, trying to get airborne once more.

"Roselia, use Giga Drain to fully restore your health!" Heather calls, and Roselia, heeding the call, shoots forward several vines, which latch onto Starly before being retracted back into Roselia, draining Starly of even more energy while further restoring Roselia's.

"We can't fight it properly like this," I consider out loud. "Roselia's just gonna keep getting its health back." I realise that the time has come for a change of tactic, and I call out to my Pokémon. "Starly, don't give up! Use your Endeavor attack to make it feel your pain!"

Starly lifts her head, and there is a bright flash of light. When it clears, Roselia is looking unsteady, its health suddenly lowered to the same level as Starly's.

"All right! Now finish it off with a Quick Attack!"

Using the little energy it has left, Starly takes flight for a moment, wraps its wings around its body and allows gravity to pull it down to Earth, where it crashes into Roselia. Roselia's roots are torn up from underneath and it collapses backwards, with Starly landing on top of it, and though Starly gets to her feet after a moment, Roselia does not.

"Roselia! Oh, no!" Heather cries, recalling her defeated Pokémon.

"Yes! We did it! Round one goes to us!" I cry, punching the air in victory. I pull out Starly's Poké Ball and recall my exhausted bird Pokémon. "Good job, Starly," I whisper to the ball, wondering if she can hear me in there.

I look back across at Heather, who is eyeing me with a smile on her face. "I'm impressed, Luke. My Roselia has fought off a lot of bird Pokémon in her time. One of the most important things about being a Gym Leader is being able to cover your weaknesses. I thought I'd developed the perfect strategy for Roselia to do just that."

"You battle really well," I compliment her. "I just got a bit lucky."

"Well, we'll see if you get as lucky in round two," Heather says with a smile. "Choose your second Pokémon."

"Easy." I already have the Poké Ball in my hand, and I toss it into the arena with a cry of "Go, Sewaddle!" The Poké Ball opens and my tiny bug Pokémon emerges.

"Waddle," he cries.

"Hmm… In that case, I'll use Sunflora!" Heather throws down her second Poké Ball and it opens to reveal a green plant Pokémon with a yellow, sun-shaped head. Once again, I take out my Pokédex so I can get this new Pokémon's data recorded for Professor Oak.

"Sunflora. The Sun Pokémon. The evolved form of Sunkern. It converts sunlight into energy. In the darkness after sunset, it closes its petals and becomes still."

"You sure do like your flowers, don't you?" I call across to Heather with a grin. "But if there's one thing gardeners hate, its having bugs crawl all over their flowers. Sewaddle, Bug Bite!"

Sewaddle scurries forward and leaps at Sunflora, its teeth latching around one of Sunflora's leaves. Sunflora reels backwards, its face screwed up in pain.

"Shake it off, Sunflora!" Heather calls. Sunflora proceeds to do just that. It shakes its leaves until Sewaddle is flung off of it, but Sewaddle immediately regains his feet, ready for more.

"GrassWhistle, Sunflora! Send it to sleep!"

Sunflora ruffles the petals around the rim of its face, and the wind rushing past creates a peculiar whistling noise. The whistling causes Sewaddle's eyes to droop, until it eventually falls to the floor, fast asleep.

"Sewaddle!" I cry out. "Come on, Sewaddle, wake up!"

But my cries are useless, and Sewaddle continues to sleep. Meanwhile, across the battlefield, Sunflora seems to be absorbing energy from the sunlight pouring into the Gym through the glass roof. Its body glows with the power it is building. Uh oh, I think to myself. This doesn't look good.

"Sunflora, unleash a SolarBeam!" Heather calls.

Sunflora hunkers down, and from out of its sun-shaped head a piercingly bright beam of light is emitted, which collides head-on with the sleeping Sewaddle. I shield my eyes from the light. This is it, I think. Round two is as good as over.

I feel the light clear away, and hear Heather's gasp from the other side of the battlefield. "I don't believe it…" she murmurs, in awe of what she is seeing. Slowly I move my arm away from my face and look around, expecting to see Sewaddle's unconscious body lying somewhere close by.

But I don't see it. In fact, Sewaddle isn't even there anymore. Standing in its place is a ball-shaped Pokémon wrapped in leaves, clearly awake and staring down Sunflora, who looks as surprised as its Trainer.

"Loon," the ball-shaped Pokémon cries smoothly.

"No way," I say quietly. "Did Sewaddle just…" I extract my Pokédex and point it at the ball Pokémon, looking for confirmation.

"Swadloon. The Leaf-Wrapped Pokémon. The evolved form of Sewaddle. It protects itself from the cold by wrapping up in leaves. It stays on the move, eating leaves in forests."

"Incredible…" Reo murmurs, also in awe of what just happened. "Sewaddle evolved mid-battle and used Protect to shield itself from the incoming SolarBeam."

"But Sewaddle doesn't know how to use Protect," I argue, looking at the green leafy ball Pokémon in confusion.

"No," Reo confirms. "But Swadloon does."

I look hard at Swadloon. Sewaddle's evolution… This could be my lucky break.

"All right then, Swadloon," I call out. "Let's catch them off guard. Hit it with your strongest Bug-type attack!"

"Loooooooooon!" Swadloon cries. It opens the leaves that surround it and a buzzing noise begins to fill the air. The buzzing gets louder and louder until suddenly Sunflora is thrown backwards by the force of the noise. It slumps into a heap, and though it tries to get up, it is unsuccessful.

The buzzing noise dies down and Heather looks down at her Pokémon in disbelief. "Sunflora, return," she says, recalling her Pokémon. It's all she can think of to say. After a moment she looks up at Swadloon, then at me. Her face breaks into a warm smile. "You just won round two, Luke. That means this battle is over. You're the winner."

"Looooooooooooon!" Swadloon cries happily, bouncing up and down with joy. I allow myself a smile as I walk over to Heather, who has something small clasped in her hand. As I near her she opens her hand and offers it to me.

"You've earned this, Luke. It's a Garden Badge, proof that you beat me."

I accept the Badge from her. It is square-shaped, and coloured in by a set of concentric squares in shades of green which grow lighter as they near the centre. I attach the Badge to the inside of my jacket, next to my Valley Badge. "Thanks, Heather," I say gratefully.

"You don't need to thank me. You won fair and square. And I got to see a Pokémon evolve in the middle of a battle. Now there's a sight you don't see every day!"

I smile back at her, unable to deny this, then turn to my new Swadloon, who is still on the battlefield, hopping around in delight over its triumph. I bend down next to it.

"You did it, Swadloon," I say proudly. "You and me, what a team. Together, we earned this Garden Badge."

"Loon," Swadloon says simply.

I straighten up and turn to Reo. "Looks like I didn't need you after all, this time," I say to him.

"It would seem so. A good Trainer knows how to use their Pokémon wisely in battles. It's not always the best idea to simply send out the same Pokémon every single time. True Trainers win with strategy and teamwork."

"Yeah, you're right about that," I say as I recall Swadloon and we turn to wave at Heather as we exit the Gym. "And right now, we've got the best team in the whole of Silvari."


	10. Deforestation Double Trouble

**10.**

**DEFORESTATION DOUBLE TROUBLE**

I return to the Verdate City Pokémon Center, still buzzing from the thrill of earning my second Gym Badge, not to mention evolving another one of my Pokémon. I heal Starly and Swadloon and head to the cafeteria so that me and my Pokémon can eat, and despite the battles we have already faced today, I find myself still full of energy.

"Reo, what do you say we set out for the next town as soon as we finish our meal?" I propose to my partner, who sits opposite me as usual, tucking into a plate of specially-prepared Pokémon food.

Reo raises his eyebrows at me in mild surprise. "What makes you so eager to set out?" he asks in return.

"I dunno. I'm just so hyped-up about getting my second Badge, I feel like I can't sit still. And plus, I want to stand a chance of catching up to Elliot before he gets even further ahead of me."

"Well, I'm up for it if you are," Reo responds. He takes another bite of his food, and chews it thoughtfully. "I assume you'll want to head for Skyris Town next, right?"

"That's the next town with a Gym, isn't it?" I strain my memory, trying to recall my Geography classes from school. "I'm sure Skyris Town is near here, on the other side of the Verdate Forest."

"That's right. I'm sure we'll find plenty of wild Pokémon lurking in the forest, too," Reo says.

"That's settled then," I announce, and without another word I continue eating, not wanting to waste a second longer that I could be using to close the gap on Elliot.

After finishing my meal, I exit the Pokémon Center once more, Reo following close behind me as usual. The afternoon air is thick and humid, the sky up above beginning to turn grey and gloomy. I feel the first spots of rain begin to fall as we head towards the northern exit of town which leads to Verdate Forest. As we pass the Gym, I smile to myself, remembering my battle against Heather. I won that one in two rounds, I think to myself. There's no reason why I can't do the same in Skyris Town.

As we enter the Verdate Forest, the sky opens up, and a full deluge of rain begins to fall. I extract my waterproof jacket from my backpack and replace my regular jacket with it, zipping it up tightly against the watery onslaught. The forest air is even thicker than before, and the trees are packed tightly together, giving the appearance of a dense and untamed jungle. I can hear sounds of movement all around me, though no Pokémon show up.

After walking for about ten minutes I push through a thick canopy of branches and emerge into a small clearing. Around the edge are several tree stumps, making the clearing larger than it undoubtedly once was. Reo walks over to one of them and places his hand upon it, feeling around the rim. His expression grows a fraction darker.

"It's still warm… These trees were felled recently, and with intent," he summarises, standing up.

"So?" I ask, sitting down on another stump and taking a moment to rest. Trekking through the forest is much harder than I anticipated it would be.

Reo looks at me seriously. "Luke, people can't just go around chopping down trees wherever and whenever they feel like it. Whoever did this has destroyed valuable Pokémon habitats, not to mention affecting the natural beauty of the area."

"Aha!"

The cry comes from out of the shadows beneath the trees, and makes both Reo and I jump. I quickly get to my feet, detaching a Poké Ball from my belt in case I have to battle. "Who's there?" I call out.

From under the trees in the direction from which the voice came steps a teenage girl, dressed in red waterproof clothing. Her eyes are narrow, partly out of suspicion, but mostly naturally so, and a dark colour. Her hair is light brown and drawn up into a high ponytail on the back of her head. There is a long length of rope formed into a loop at her belt, beside a solitary Poké Ball.

The girl looks at me suspiciously. "Rule one of all criminal investigations," she announces. Her speech is slightly clipped, as though English is not her natural language. "The criminal always returns to the scene of the crime. This is your doing, is it not?"

"Huh?" I ask, confused. "What are you talking about? I didn't do any of this…"

The girl looks to ground level, and behind her slightly. "What do we think, Mienfoo? Is he telling the truth?"

A creature about three foot in height steps out from behind the girl. It is coloured cream and burgundy, and has muscular-looking arms and legs. Its eyes are narrowed like its Trainer's, and set in a peculiar, rounded face.

"Mienfoo," the creature says, clearly as suspicious as its Trainer.

"Is that a Pokémon?" I wonder out loud, extracting my Pokédex and pointing it at the creature for confirmation.

"Mienfoo. The Martial Arts Pokémon. In fights, they dominate with onslaughts of flowing, continuous attacks. They have a mastery over various elegant combos."

The girl and her Mienfoo look at the device in my hand with raised eyebrows. "Is that a Pokédex?" the girl asks, surprised.

"Yeah."

"Oh," the girl says. She appears slightly embarrassed. "Then I suppose you aren't responsible for the destruction of this forest after all. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding."

"Don't worry about it," I say, replacing my Pokédex in my jeans pocket. "I'm Luke, a Trainer from Tranila Town. This is my partner Pokémon, Reo."

The girl smiles in a friendly way. "My name is Lu Fei. I am something of a Pokémon Trainer, too. This Mienfoo is my friend, and she helps me patrol the forest."

"Patrol the forest?" I repeat in mild confusion. "What do you need to patrol the forest for?"

"Look around you," Lu Fei responds, indicating the fresh tree stumps. "Someone is destroying the Verdate Forest, and with it, the home of a huge variety of different species of Pokémon. I intend to find out who is behind this atrocity and convince them to stop."

"What does that make you then, some kind of park ranger?" I ask, beholding her clothing and equipment – highly practical for trekking through a rainforest, I now realise.

Lu Fei lets out a short, sweet laugh. "I suppose it does. I come from a country far away from here. The beauty of the Silvari region has captivated me for many years. I…just want to protect it, that is all."

"Well, I guess I can't argue with that," I say with a smile. "Hey, listen. We're trying to get through this forest and reach Skyris Town. You must know the forest quite well. Do you think you could maybe show us the way?"

"Of course. That's a park ranger's job too, isn't it? To help those in need?" Lu Fei asks with a smile. "Come, Luke. Follow me."

Lu Fei turns and heads back into the trees in the direction from which she came. I exchange a look with Reo, who nods encouragingly, and then follow her. I continue to follow in the wake of Lu Fei and Mienfoo for at least another hour, chatting amicably with her about my journey so far, and in turn asking her about herself. She tells me that she once tried to challenge the Verdate City Gym, too, but since she only has two Pokémon she was not permitted to make the challenge. I wonder to myself what her other Pokémon is.

After we have been following Lu Fei for some time, an unexpected noise rends the air. It sounds like an engine revving, and Lu Fei stops dead in her tracks to listen. I hear the engine continue its metallic noise, and eventually hear a loud crashing sound, which I soon realise with a touch of unease is the sound of another tree being felled somewhere else in the forest.

"Oh, no…" Lu Fei mutters. "They're back." She turns to me urgently. "Luke, we have to stop these people! Can I count on your assistance?"

Her panic-stricken, pleading look cements my resolve. "Sure," I say confidently, and she nods at me once in gratitude before setting off at a run in the direction of the noise. I try and keep up with her, but struggling through the forest, impeded by nature as well as the pouring rain, I quickly fall behind. Nevertheless, I continue to make haste in the direction of the logging operation, determined not to break my promise to help my new acquaintance.

Finally I emerge into another clearing, larger than the first, but again littered with fresh tree stumps. Around the clearing are various men in orange overalls and hard hats, a couple of them wielding orange-handled chainsaws, clearly intended for cutting down the many trees of the Verdate Forest. I realise with mild horror that a couple of the men are even now carrying away one of the trees they have recently felled.

I locate Lu Fei, standing in the centre of the clearing opposite what looks to be the leader of the men, who stands with his hands on his hips listening to her words. I cross over to stand by her side.

"…so you see, you need to stop cutting down these trees, right away," Lu Fei finishes, her argument to the men clearly having come to an end.

The leader of the group shrugs. "You put up a sound argument, girl, but I'm afraid we need these trees more than the Pokémon do. We need the wood for our fires and furnaces, and the carbon from the trees to make paper. We can't just do without those things."

"I understand that, but there are far more sustainable places to take trees from," Lu Fei argues. "You're simply cutting them at random from the middle of the forest. If you must take them from here, at least head to the edges. Or better yet, move somewhere else, where the wildlife won't suffer as much from your actions."

The leader pauses, before shrugging again. "Sorry, girl, I've got orders to be here. I'm just doing my job."

Lu Fei sighs in frustration. "All right, how about this? I'm challenging you to a Pokémon battle. If I defeat you, you and your men leave the forest for good, all right?"

The leader grins. "A battle? Now that sounds like a more appealing proposition." He looks over at me. "What about your little boyfriend here? Is he up for battling, too?"

Lu Fei looks at me, and I look over at her, my face breaking into a grin of its own. "No question," I say, turning my attention back to the leader.

The leader laughs. "Fair enough. I guess you two are game for a doubles match, then." He turns behind him. "Hey, Kirk! Get your butt over here. We've got a pair of kids want to battle against us."

Another one of the workers in the clearing abandons his chainsaw and moves over to us. He grins as he approaches. "Couple of feisty ones, aren't you?" he muses. "Well, it don't matter. Me and my brother Chris aren't gonna let a couple of self-righteous punks like you battle us out of this forest."

"We'll just see about that," I challenge.

As one, Chris and Kirk detach their Poké Balls from their belt and throw them onto the battlefield before us, where they splash into the ever-persistent rain.

"Get 'em, Timburr!" Kirk cries.

"Let's go, Sudowoodo!" Chris calls.

As the bright flash of light clears, I extract my Pokédex once more and point it at Kirk's Pokémon, which is small, grey and human-shaped, and carries a rectangular block of wood on its shoulder. "Timburr," the Pokédex announces. "The Muscular Pokémon. It fights by swinging a piece of lumber around. It is close to evolving when it can handle the lumber without difficulty."

I nod to myself, then turn my attention to Chris' Pokémon, which to my surprise looks exactly like a tree, with two branch arms from which leaf-like fingers grow. "Sudowoodo," announces my Pokédex. "The Imitation Pokémon. Although it always pretends to be a tree, its composition appears to be closer to a rock than a plant."

I pause for a moment to consider my strategy. Timburr is a Fighting-type Pokémon, which means Starly would have an advantage. But Sudowoodo's Rock-type counterbalances that…

"All right Mienfoo, I choose you," Lu Fei calls, turning to her partner Pokémon, who nods and jumps into action, facing off against Timburr.

"Mienfoo!" it calls.

A thought clicks into my head. Wait a moment, Mienfoo is a Fighting-type Pokémon, too. That gives it the advantage over Sudowoodo.

I grin and detach my own Poké Ball. "And teaming up with Mienfoo will be…Starly!" I announce, throwing down my Poké Ball and releasing my bird Pokémon.

"Star!" she cries.

I turn to Lu Fei. "Listen, we should have this one in the bag as long as you keep Sudowoodo busy. I'll take care of Timburr."

"Right!" Lu Fei acknowledges my advice, then turns to Mienfoo. "All right, Mienfoo. Use your Double Team attack to start things off!"

"Starly, you do the same!" I order. "Double Team!"

Starly and Mienfoo both start to dart around at colossal speeds, creating the usual wall of illusory copies. Timburr and Sudowoodo watch them for a moment, bewildered, before a cry from Chris brings them to their senses.

"Don't just stand there! Sudowoodo, crush them with Rock Slide!"

Sudowoodo raises its branch-like arms into the air, and from out of nowhere a cascade of boulders falls down towards the illusions of Starly and Mienfoo.

"Mienfoo, dodge it with Detect!" Lu Fei orders. Mienfoo stops moving and throws up a protective barrier just in time, but Starly is unable to dodge the attack, and is hit with the full force of the falling rocks, sending her crashing to the ground, almost defeated. She still has energy left though, and takes off again somewhat unsteadily.

"Starly, you can turn this around! Endeavor!" There is the usual flash of light, and when it clears, I notice Timburr swaying on the spot, somewhat unsteady from the force of having its health suddenly dropped to the same level as Starly's.

"Ignore the bird, Timburr! Low Kick! Take out the other one!" Kirk orders. Timburr shakes its head, adjusts its block of wood, then dives at Mienfoo, feet first.

"Mienfoo, Detect it!" Lu Fei cries, but not quickly enough. The impact from the Low Kick connects with Mienfoo, who is unsteadied.

"Now, Sudowoodo, you Low Kick it too!"

Mienfoo is hit with a second Low Kick, this time from Sudowoodo, and slumps to the ground, unable to continue.

"No, Mienfoo!" Lu Fei cries, rushing over to her injured Pokémon. "Are you all right?" She strokes Mienfoo's head as the Pokémon gives a feeble cry.

I unclip another Poké Ball from my belt. "Lu Fei, get back. This battle's still on. I'll fight them with two of my Pokémon!" I cry wildly.

"No, I'm still in this!" Lu Fei insists, dragging Mienfoo out of the battlefield and unclipping the Poké Ball from her own waist. "I said I have two Pokémon, remember?" She tosses the ball into battle. "Go, Lombre!"

From out of the ball, a bipedal Pokémon emerges, with a blue and green body, a large red nose and a flat leaf on its head. I pull out my Pokédex yet again and scan the new appearance.

"Lombre. The Jolly Pokémon. The evolved form of Lotad. It has a mischievous spirit. It sleeps on a bed of water grass by day and becomes active at night."

I grin encouragingly at Lu Fei. "Nice one," I say to her, and she grins back. I return my attention to the battle in hand. "Right then, Starly, their attentions are distracted. Strike now with a Quick Attack!"

"Star!" Starly tucks in her wings and dives at Timburr, who is unprepared for the attack and knocked off its feet. Starly loops back around and prepares to go in for another strike.

"Wing Attack it this time, Starly!"

To my left, Lu Fei is also calling orders to her Lombre. "Lombre, look how that Sudowoodo is shuddering in the rain! It must really hate water! Hit it with your Water Pulse attack!"

Lombre sends forth a ring of water to strike Sudowoodo just as Starly swoops down and slaps Timburr across the head with her wings. Both Pokémon are sent flying backwards from the impact and fall to the ground. They do not get to their feet and their Trainers, who watch on, speechless, are forced to grudgingly return them to their Poké Balls.

"Rats," Chris curses. "You got us."

"But hey, that sure was a good battle," Kirk says with a smile. "Looks like this rain's starting to ease off, too. Better and better."

Lu Fei's attention is focused on Chris. "You lost the battle. Now uphold your vow. Leave this place at once," she demands.

Chris gives a sheepish smile. "You beat us fair and square. The forest is yours. Not sure how I'll explain this to my boss, though…" With that, he and Kirk turn their heel and, followed by the rest of the group, proceed to exit the clearing and, hopefully, the forest as a whole.

As Kirk had said, the rain is finally quieting to a mere drizzle. Lombre crosses over to Lu Fei and she hugs it gratefully. I look upward and see Starly flying down to me, looking pleased with herself. I hold out my arm and she lands on it with a joyful chirp.

"You did great, Starly," I say to her with gratitude. "You're really turning into a Pokémon I can depend on." From behind me, Reo gives a slight cough, and I call over my shoulder. "I haven't forgotten about you, you know Reo. I'm just saving you for when the time is right."

"Oh, don't worry. I'll be right here whenever you need me, Luke," Reo says from behind me, and from his tone of voice I can tell that he is smiling. "Right now, you might want to pay attention to Starly. She has something to show you."

I look back at Starly, perched on my arm, and nearly jump out of my skin as I notice that her body is glowing. I watch, a gleeful smile spreading across my face as she grows taller, her wings grow larger and her talons get sharper. When she stops glowing, I behold my newly-evolved Pokémon, and see the same familiar eyes looking down at me.

"Star," she chirps in a slightly deeper voice than I am used to. With my unoccupied right hand, I pull my Pokédex out of my jeans pocket and hold it up to her.

"Staravia," it announces. "The Starling Pokémon. The evolved form of Starly. It lives in forests and fields. Squabbles over territory occur when flocks collide."

"Awesome," I say as I replace my Pokédex. "Good to meet you, Staravia."

"Staravia!" the Pokémon chirps happily.

A couple of hours later, we finally reach the edge of Verdate Forest. Dusk is beginning to fall, and the sky is filled with a beautiful violet light formed from the last rays of the setting sun. Lu Fei, who has guided me successfully thus far, looks up at it.

"Nature is such a beautiful thing…" She looks over at me and smiles. "But today, Luke, thanks to you, I have learned that there are other wonders upon which to marvel in this world of Pokémon. Our battle earlier…I really quite enjoyed it. I think it's about time I got down to some serious training and challenged the Verdate Gym again."

I grin back at her. "Glad to hear it. You're a great Trainer, Lu Fei. I'm sure you'd have no trouble against a Gym Leader."

Lu Fei holds out her hand. "Well, I guess this is goodbye then, Luke. For now, at least. I hope we will meet again someday, and maybe next time we shall be opponents on the battlefield rather than partners."

"I'll look forward to that," I say to her as I shake her hand. "Goodbye, Lu Fei, and good luck."

Lu Fei nods and smiles once more before turning back away from us and re-entering the Verdate Forest, no doubt off to find that all-important third Pokémon that will allow her to do battle for a Gym Badge. I turn my attention to the road onward, and the enormous tower-like structure at the end of the road.

"That's Skyris Town," Reo murmurs in answer to a question I hadn't even thought of. "Our destination."

"Then we'd better get a move on, hadn't we?" I say to him, and begin to walk once more. "We wouldn't want to keep the Gym Leader waiting."


	11. A Trio of Trainer Trials

**11.**

**A TRIO OF TRAINER TRIALS**

Reo and I follow the path down from the edge of Verdate Forest until finally we arrive at the base of the tower which, according to my partner, is Skyris Town. The town is composed of a number of different flat levels, with a couple of houses on each, all linked together by a large elevator shaft in the middle, which travels from the bottom level right up to the top, with stops at every level in between.

We arrive at the bottom level of the town as the sun has just finished setting, and find ourselves in a somewhat squalid little village-like settlement, dimly lit by a few disparate lights set into the base of the level above. I shiver uncomfortably. This does not look like the kind of place I would want to stay for too long.

Fortunately, I locate the Pokémon Center, which is also located on the bottom level, and head straight there. As I approach it, I notice a policewoman with long blue hair standing by the doors, as if to seal them. I speed up my walking pace, and she looks up and sees me, before gesturing to me to hurry up.

I enter the Pokémon Center and the doors slide shut behind me. The policewoman fixes a circular 'closed' sign onto each door, before pressing a button at the top and deactivating the automatic mechanism.

"What's the big deal?" I ask her once she is finished.

"We've been getting troubling reports lately of an outbreak of Pokémon thefts," the policewoman informs me. "Just two days ago, thieves broke into the Pokémon Center at night and stole every last Pokémon that was kept here.

"That's awful," I say, shocked.

"So now there's a curfew in place," the policewoman informs me. "Nobody can enter the Pokémon Center after ten pm, and no one can leave until ten am the next morning, and everyone gets searched coming in or out."

"Does that include me?" I ask her now.

"Of course. If you could just hand over your backpack, please," the policewoman requests, her hand held out and her tone suddenly more businesslike. She checks through my bag and opens the remaining Poké Ball in there to check it is empty, and examines my Trainer Card, checking my ID number.

"OK, now I'll need to check this ID number matches up with all of your Pokémon. Can you let them out please, one at a time?"

The policewoman pulls a rectangular scanner device out of her pocket and passes it over first Reo, then Staravia, Swadloon and Ralts to check that they are indeed mine. Once done, she nods in a satisfied way, replaces the scanner device and sighs in a relieved manner.

"That's all good," she says, her tone friendly again. "Sorry about all this. Normally our Gym Leader, Vance, is around to deal with these sorts of things, but he's been inundated with challengers recently and hasn't had the time, just as the number of thefts begins to increase."

"What kinds of thefts have these been?" I ask concernedly.

"Skyris Town has always had, shall we say, an unfavourable reputation," the policewoman says sadly. "But recently, a group of odd men in black outfits have been showing up here more and more. We think they're the ones to blame for these most recent atrocities."

I frown to myself. It seems that nowhere is safe from Team SPF nowadays…

"But enough of this dreary talk," the policewoman says, attempting to smile. "I'm in charge of night watch, so you can rest assured that no one will get in to steal anything while I'm around."

I try to smile back. "Thanks, officer."

"And here, this is for you, to apologise for the inconvenience," she says, handing me a slip of paper which looks like a voucher of some sort. "Free breakfast at the cafeteria tomorrow. I can personally recommend the omelette – it's to die for!"

"Thanks, officer."

After checking myself into a room for the night and having my party of Pokémon healed, I lie on my bed and think about everything. I am, of course, worried about Team SPF, and the fact that they seem to be spreading their influence further and further around Silvari. But also, I am concerned about the Gym Leader, and the fact that his numerous challengers are preventing him from upholding his duties of keeping the town safe.

From what I can recall from studying the Gym Leaders at school, Vance, the Leader here in Skyris Town, uses Flying-type Pokémon. He's supposed to be a kindly soul, so helping out the citizens of his town sounds appropriate to his character. But at the same time, he's a Gym Leader. He has to accept every challenge that comes his way. Is it really right that people should take away from his other duties by forcing him to battle them?

I lie awake for a while thinking about this. At the end of the day, I have to get a Cloud Badge sometime. It's one of the eight Badges that I need if I'm going to challenge to become the Champion. Winning my first two Badges has definitely spurred me on even more to make that challenge, and I am determined to see it through. But if the town needs help defending against Team SPF, then it might be better to wait a little while to make that challenge.

After all, I have some experience in taking care of the Silvari Pokémon Force…

The next morning I redeem my free breakfast voucher and, upon recommendation from the police officer on the door, ask for the omelette, which to my mild surprise is in fact extremely tasty. With nothing better to do until ten am, when I can leave, I phone mom on my Xtransciever, just to let her know I am OK, and as usual she is ecstatic to see me. After speaking to her, I glance at the other two names on my contacts list: Elliot and Ben. I wonder how they are doing, and whether Ben has found that legendary Pokémon yet…

At ten am sharp I leave my room and head downstairs, handing the keys to the receptionist and joining the queue of people leaving the Center. The police officer from last night is standing at the door seeing everyone off.

"Bye-bye now! Have a great day! Buh-bye… Oh, hey!" she says as I make to pass her. "You're the kid who came in last night! Did you get a good night's sleep?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"So, what's your plans for today? Are you off to challenge Gym Leader Vance?"

"I don't know," I say to her rather awkwardly. "I'm a little worried about these men in black uniforms. I was thinking maybe I could do something about them…"

"Oh, that's kind of you to offer, sweetie, but don't worry," the policewoman says with a smile. "Our police force is keeping up a twenty-four hour watch for them. If they set foot in Skyris Town again, we'll know."

"All right," I say, still not entirely convinced, and leave the Pokémon Center, Reo following behind me.

"You have a good day now, sweetie!" the police officer calls from behind me.

"Are we still going to go and look for Team SPF?" Reo asks.

"Of course," I respond. "I just wish we knew where to start."

"Maybe Gym Leader Vance knows something," Reo suggests with a shrug. "We could try asking him. We don't have to battle him yet necessarily, just talk to him."

"Good idea," I say, and head over to the elevator shaft in the centre of the level. Standing next to it is a large man in a sharp suit and dark glasses.

"Hi. Can you tell me on which level the Gym is located, please?" I ask him.

"Can I see your identification?" the man asks in response.

I look at him, stumped. "Uh…"

At that moment, the elevator pings to announce its arrival and I turn to look at it. The sliding doors open to reveal two people. The one in front is young, about my age, and dressed head-to-toe in white, and has a triumphant expression on his face. It takes me less than a second to recognise him.

"Elliot!" I say in surprise.

"Luke! Hey! What are the chances?" Elliot exclaims, equally surprised. He crosses over to me and looks me up and down. "Have you grown since I last saw you? You look taller."

I laugh. "I don't think so, but some things have changed." I gesture behind me. "Meet the new, improved Reo."

Reo walks around in front of me and smiles at Elliot. "Hello, Elliot. Good to see you again. How's Molly doing?"

For a moment, Elliot is speechless. He looks at Reo for a moment, then a wide smile breaks out across his face.

"Awesome! Reo evolved? And he can talk now?" Elliot says, somewhat enviously. "That's so cool…"

The guy behind Elliot clears his throat, and Elliot turns to him. "Oh yeah! Luke, this is Vance, the Gym Leader here." Elliot steps aside and I get a good look at the man, who looks reasonably young and has a fairly narrow face. He is dressed in overalls with a black t-shirt underneath, and his dark hair is styled into tall Liberty spikes across the back of his head.

"Hey," Vance says in a smooth voice. "It's always nice to meet a new Pokémon Trainer."

"Look, Luke. I just beat Vance and won a Cloud Badge," Elliot tells me, opening his white jacket and showing me his three Badges. The third one is a silvery-white colour and in the shape of a puffy cloud, and is the one I am currently missing.

"Yeah, that's cool," I say, my heart sinking slightly knowing that Elliot is still ahead of me as per usual.

"If you've come to challenge me too, then I'll just need you to wait a few minutes," Vance tells me. "I have to go and get my Pokémon healed before I am ready to battle again."

"So Luke, you're collecting Badges too?" Elliot asks me as Vance walks off.

"Yeah, I've got the Valley Badge from Tony and the Garden Badge from Heather," I say, showing him.

"Not bad, not bad," Elliot says, nodding approvingly. "Have you been catching Pokémon to help you against each Leader?"

I pause. "Well…not really, no," I answer honestly.

"Really? That's basic strategy for battling a Gym Leader: you find a type they're weak to and exploit that," Elliot informs me. "I've got sixteen different Pokémon, plus Molly, all aimed at beating each of the Gym Leaders in Silvari, and so far I haven't had a single Gym Battle go to a third round."

"Wow," I say, unable to think of anything else.

"So Luke, if you want to make life easier for yourself, here's a piece of advice. On level four of Skyris Town there's a power station. Electric-type Pokémon show up there frequently. They'll have a massive advantage against Vance's Flying-type team, so…"

"To be honest, Elliot, I'd rather try and win with the team I have now," I interrupt, and Elliot stops mid-flow. "I've raised my four Pokémon carefully, and I think they're all ready. And besides, I always thought quality was better than quantity, especially in the world of Pokémon battles."

Elliot opens his mouth to say something more, but at that moment both of us are distracted by a scream that seems to come from above us. Our heads both instinctively turn in its direction.

"Someone's in trouble on one of the upper levels," Elliot concludes instantly.

I nod. "I bet it's that Team SPF come back and trying to steal people's Pokémon again."

"Then let's not waste any time," a third voice says, and me and Elliot jump. I turn and notice that Vance has joined us again, and looks on with a serious expression on his face. "Come on, into the elevator, quickly."

Vance presses the elevator button and Elliot, Reo and I follow him into the small capsule – the guard evidently decides that if we are with Vance then we are to be trusted and does not give us any grief. Vance presses the button for level eight, the highest level, and the elevator ascends slowly.

Finally we arrive at level eight, and my eyes are momentarily blinded by the bright sunlight, as we are now effectively on the roof of the town. When they adjust, I see the Gym off to the left, and hovering off the level to the right is a large black airship with the SPF insignia on it.

Vance, Elliot, Reo and I hurriedly exit the elevator and look over at the airship, which several people are backing away from in fear. As we watch, a number of Team SPF members jump out of the airship and onto the level, and advance on the passers-by threateningly.

"Hand over your Pokémon, weaklings," they threaten.

"Hey!" Elliot cries, running forward. Vance and I rush ahead to join him. "Leave them alone!"

The nearest Team SPF member turns to Elliot, a Poké Ball in his hand. "Or what?" he challenges.

"Molly, go!" Elliot cries, tossing his Great Ball to the floor and unleashing Molly.

"Emolga!" Molly cries.

"Elliot, can you take care of these guys?" I ask him.

"Sure, no trouble," Elliot says confidently. "What are you going to do?"

In response, I turn to Vance. "Do you think we can take out that airship?" I ask him.

Vance looks at it for a moment, a smile spreading across his face. "Easily. One good hit from my Pidgeotto's Gust attack should bring it down."

"Come on then!" I call, and Reo and I begin to run over towards the airship, with Vance following behind. As we near it, however, a nasal voice rings out.

"Stop right there, kid!"

I shudder as the unpleasant voice rings through me. A line descends from out of the airship, and down it comes Greson, one of Team SPF's commanders, who lands on the floor and stands opposite me, looking at me in disgust.

"Why can't you just leave us alone, kid?" Greson asks in annoyance. "Everywhere we go, you show up and wreck our plans. What do you have against us?"

"Well, let's think," I respond, screwing up my face in mock concentration. "You go around stealing Pokémon from other Trainers. Isn't that reason enough?"

"You find something wrong with that?" a different voice asks, and I look up and see Greson's fellow commander Reddic also descend the line and stand next to his partner, hands on his hips, leering at me.

"I think every Trainer would find something wrong with that," Vance says angrily. "It's despicable."

Greson laughs cruelly. "Despicable? That's my middle name! Since you don't know much about us, O wise Gym Leader, allow me to cure your ignorance. I am the mighty Greson of the Silvari Pokémon Force. Our mission: to take all Silvari Pokémon by Force!"

Reddic, who has placed his hand across his chest, looks at Greson in an affronted manner. "Hey! What happened to the cool salute I invented? Why didn't you do it like that?"

"Because it's stupid," Greson responds simply.

"Don't you call my salute stupid, you unreliable green-haired twerp!"

"How dare you accuse me of being unreliable, you pompous red-headed moron!"

"Pidgeotto, go!" Vance cries, using the distraction of the two commanders arguing to his advantage and releasing his bird Pokémon. "Bring down that airship with a Gust attack!"

"Pidgeooooooo!" Greson and Reddic look up in time to see a powerful gust of wind whip over their heads, which collides with the airship and punctures a hole in the side. The airship zooms out of sight, expelling air at a rapid rate.

Greson and Reddic look across at us angrily; Pidgeotto has come to rest on Vance's shoulder. "You're gonna pay for that," Reddic says, pulling out his own Poké Ball. At his side, Greson does the same.

"We'll see about that," I say. I turn to Reo. "You ready for battle, Reo?"

"Always!" Reo cries, jumping into position in front of me, facing his opponents.

"Luke! Me and Pidgeotto will fight at your side!" Vance calls, and his Pidgeotto takes flight again, hovering by Reo's side.

"Two-on-two won't help you," Greson says with a sneer. "Go, Krokorok!"

"Get 'em, Golbat!"

Reddic and Greson release their Pokémon, and Reo finds himself facing his old adversary, the large reptile Krokorok, while hovering opposite Pidgeotto is Reddic's enormous bat Pokémon Golbat.

"Reo, you've got this!" I cry. "Force Palm that Krokorok!" Reo makes to strike Krokorok with his palm, but Greson calls out.

"Krokorok, go underground!" Krokorok dives down and burrows straight through the solid slab of the level, making a gigantic hole.

"Pidgeotto, Gust attack!" Vance is calling from next to me, and Pidgeotto sends another Gust at Golbat, who looks buffeted but still ready for more.

"Golbat, confuse it with Supersonic!" Reo looks up at this and covers his ears, expecting the attack, as Golbat opens its huge mouth even wider and lets loose a horrible screechy noise. Pidgeotto, who is unprepared for the attack, is visibly shaken, and does not seem to be flying as easily.

"Come on, Pidgeotto, Quick Attack!" Vance calls. Pidgeotto soars high into the air and dives down towards Golbat, but it misses by a mile and crashes into the floor, dazed and confused. Reddic and Greson laugh at this, as Pidgeotto takes off uneasily.

"Krokorok, Dig attack, now!" Greson calls, and Reo, who was busy watching Pidgeotto and Golbat battle, is suddenly caught off guard by Krokorok launching itself up through its hole and colliding with him, sending him flying backwards towards me.

"Reo!" I call. "Are you all right?"

"Urr…" Reo groans as he struggles to regain his balance.

"Krokorok, Crunch attack!" Greson calls.

"Golbat, Air Cutter!" Reddic cries from beside him.

Krokorok begins to charge at Reo, its jaws spread wide, as Golbat sends a sharp blast of air at Pidgeotto.

"Reo, Endure it!" I call out. Reo wraps his arms around his body and braces himself as Krokorok's jaws lock around him. Krokorok attempts to crush Reo with his jaws, but Reo holds out. "That's good! Now use Force Palm to get it off you!" Reo strikes out harshly at Krokorok with his palm, and this time it is Krokorok who is launched off its feet and sent reeling backwards towards its Trainer.

I take the opportunity to look over at Vance's battle, and to my dismay see Pidgeotto collapsed in a heap on the slab floor, knocked out. Vance recalls it, looking on rather vulnerably.

"Don't worry, Vance, just send out a different Pokémon," I encourage.

"I can't," Vance says sadly. "My other two Pokémon are still down from my battle against Elliot. I'm all out."

"Oh, no!" I say, looking on at Reddic and Greson in alarm, who both look back at me smugly.

"You're on your own now, kid," Greson leers in satisfaction. "Two against one. It doesn't look so good for you this time, does it?"

"Not so fast!" comes a cry from behind me, and I turn around to see Elliot run towards me, a white squirrel Pokémon with a blue stripe across its back at his feet. "I'm joining the battle in Vance's place!"

"Elliot?" I say to him uncertainly. "What about all the other Team SPF members?"

Elliot gives a short laugh. "Don't worry about them," he says, gesturing behind him. I turn and see that all the other members have been defeated, many of them now nursing Pokémon of their own bearing blackened scorch marks as though they have been exposed to a powerful jolt of electricity.

"So, you expect us to believe that that puny thing at your feet took out all our minions?" Reddic asks, pointing at the little squirrel who still stands at Elliot's side.

"Patrick, Thunderbolt!" Elliot calls in response.

"Pachi!" Elliot's Pokémon cries. Its cheeks glow brightly, and it launches a huge jolt of electricity at Golbat, who has no chance to dodge and is zapped with the full force of the attack. Golbat crumples into a heap, instantly defeated.

"Nice one, Elliot!" I call approvingly. I turn back to Reo, who faces Krokorok, who is just beginning to get back to its feet. "Now it's our turn to end things, Reo! Finish off that Krokorok with an Aura Sphere!"

Reo obediently turns to the side to gather his energy, then launches a ball of pure force at Krokorok. The Aura Sphere collides and knocks the unstable crocodile Pokémon back down onto the floor, and this time it makes no effort to get up again.

Greson and Reddic grudgingly recall their Pokémon and look up at Elliot, Vance and me, as well as our Pokémon, in fury.

"This is ridiculous," Greson mutters. "Three times in a row…"

"Maybe that'll teach you not to mess with us again, eh Greson?" I challenge.

"You're a fool, Luke," Reddic says. "The more you impede our plans, the more riled our boss gets. He'll come after you himself one of these days, and trust me, if he challenges you to a battle, you might as well surrender on the spot."

"Team SPF! Surrender on the spot!" a voice calls from behind us. I turn and see at least five or six police officers, led by the woman from the Pokémon Center, spilling out of the elevator.

I look back at Reddic and Greson. "Looks like your game ends here," I say with a satisfied grin.

"Don't be so sure!" Greson calls, reaching into his jacket and extracting what looks like a small bomb. "We'll meet again, Luke!"

Reddic tosses the bomb to the ground at his feet, and the entire level is suddenly engulfed in thick black smoke. When eventually it clears, all of the Team SPF members have vanished, including their two commanders.

"Find them! Search everywhere!" the policewoman calls, and the remaining officers pile back into the elevator to head back down to the lower levels. The policewoman herself crosses over to us.

"Thanks for your help here, guys," she says appreciatively. "It's always good when ordinary citizens are willing to stand up against the work of criminals."

"No problem," Elliot says. "I'm sorry they got away, though."

"Oh, don't worry about that! I'm sure we'll catch them real soon," the policewoman says with a genial smile. I frown inwardly, not so sure.

"Now, I've got to get back to my guard duty downstairs. You all take care, now!" With a final wave, the policewoman walks away and back over to the elevator, where she presses the button and waits for it to arrive.

"Well now," Vance says, looking at the two of us, impressed. "You two sure are great Pokémon Trainers. You could both seriously challenge for the title of League Champion, I reckon."

"Well, we'll see about that in time," I say. "But right now, Vance, I need to win a Cloud Badge from you, otherwise I'm never going to make it to the Pokémon League."

Vance laughs. "Patience, Luke. We'll battle later. I need to get my team healed first, and plus I'm hungry. Anyone know where they do some good food?"

Reo laughs. "Well, if you like omelette, the Pokémon Center downstairs won't disappoint."

Vance smiles appreciatively. "I'll bet it doesn't. I'll be off now, then. Catch you later, Luke. Elliot, see you around someday." With that, he heads over to join the policewoman in waiting for the elevator.

I turn to Elliot. "So, you'll be leaving pretty soon too, I guess?"

"Yup," Elliot confirms. "Can't afford to slow up. I've got my Cloud Badge, there's no sense hanging around here."

I indicate the Pokémon at his feet. "You gonna introduce us?" I ask.

Elliot smiles and picks the little squirrel Pokémon up. "This is Patrick," he announces. "Molly's boyfriend. Patrick, this is Luke and Reo."

"Pachi!" the Pokémon squeaks happily. I pull out my Pokédex and point it at the Pokémon.

"Pachirisu. The EleSquirrel Pokémon. It makes electricity with pouches in its cheeks and shoots charges from its tail. It lives atop trees."

I replace my Pokédex. "Molly's…boyfriend," I repeat slowly.

"Sure, why not?" Elliot asks with a shrug. "They seem to like each other, and they're both the same kind of Pokémon. I don't see why Pokémon can't have relationships just like humans."

"Yeah, I guess…" I turn to Reo and grin mischievously at him. "Hey, Reo. What say we find you a girlfriend someday, hm?"

Reo maintains his sombre expression. "Well, we can always see if your object of desire Luna has any nice female Pokémon for me, can't we? I mean, that'd be perfect for you, wouldn't it?"

Elliot looks at me in mild surprise. "Luna?" he repeats. "Who's Luna, Luke?"

I sigh and turn away. Ever wish you hadn't started something? I think to myself, resigned.


	12. Soaring High Over Skyris

**12.**

**SOARING HIGH OVER SKYRIS**

Elliot continues to pester me about Luna all the while we are getting our Pokémon healed and eating at the Pokémon Center. I recount the story of my experience in Musharna's Playground, and how I bumped into her in real life in Gaver City. I missed out the bit where I had stayed in Ben's penthouse – I wasn't sure how to explain that to my friend.

"Luke, you're terrible," Elliot says with a smile and a shake of his head. "You always were a sucker for a girl with a great voice. Remember the school play last year? You couldn't take your eyes off the girl who was playing the lead just cause she had a nice voice and she could sing."

I turn away, my face growing red. "Shut up, Elliot," I mutter, embarrassed. I glance up at Reo who is looking determinedly away from me, a smug smile across his face, and I can tell he is loving every minute of this.

"And then there was that time when you marched up to that girl in music class and said…"

"You know, Elliot, I really should be getting on with planning my strategy to take on Vance," I interrupt, loudly. "Haven't you got three hundred more Pokémon to catch or something?"

Elliot looks put out. "OK," he says after a moment. "I guess I'm being dismissed. I'll see you around then, Luke." Elliot gets up and walks off and I watch him go a little guiltily. He had sounded pretty hurt, and I realise that neither of us knew when we'd see each other again, and truthfully neither of us wanted to split up just yet.

But the damage is done, and Elliot disappears out of the Center. I sigh and slump back into my chair, suddenly not feeling very hungry or up for battling the Gym Leader at all.

"He's only messing with you, Luke," Reo says reasonably. "You haven't seen each other in almost two weeks now. He's just having fun."

"I know, I know," I say. "I shouldn't have snapped. I'll give him a call in a bit and apologise. But right now I've gotta get my head back in the game," I say, sitting up straighter and eating another mouthful of my lunch determinedly. "I need to win this Cloud Badge, otherwise I'll be stuck in this town forever."

"Right. And we could do with doing it this afternoon. If we leave it too late, we risk being locked outside if we get back here after ten pm," Reo reminds me.

"Yeah, that's true… OK." I swallow another mouthful of food. "So, Vance uses Flying-type Pokémon, right?"

"That's correct."

"Well, I don't actually have anything that's good against Flying Pokémon right now," I admit with a sigh.

"There's always the power station on level four, like Elliot suggested."

I shake my head. "Elliot's free to do whatever he wants. Personally, I don't like the idea of catching Pokémon just to make them fight a Gym Leader, then never using them again. I'd rather have six Pokémon I've trained myself and who I can trust to use in any situation."

"Very well. I think that's a wise strategy," Reo comments. "So, how will you approach your battle with Vance?"

"Well, you and Swadloon don't match up too well against Flying-type Pokémon," I muse. "I guess that means I'll have to use Staravia and Ralts and hope I can get this won in two rounds, like last time."

"You're sure you can get that done?" Reo asks.

"I hope so. If I don't mess up, and my Pokémon are as good and loyal as ever, there's no reason why we can't."

An hour later, Reo and I are standing outside the Skyris Town Gym on the top level of the town. It is made of grey metal, and rectangular in shape, with two large metal doors, upon which I knock.

"Come in, Luke," echoes Vance's voice from within, and the doors open to allow me entry.

Skyris Gym, unlike the previous two, does not seem to have any decoration based on the type of Pokémon its Gym Leader uses. It is a simple battle arena with an orange metal floor upon which the usual stadium markings are drawn, set between four metal walls the same as those on the outside of the building. The Cloud Badge emblem is painted on the far wall, above the throne in which Vance currently sits. The only clue this Gym has that it is a Flying-type Gym is the fact that the stadium has no roof, presumably to allow Flying-type Pokémon to soar into the air as high as they feel free.

I step forward and stand in my challenger's rectangle. "Vance!" I call out. "I've come to challenge you for a Cloud Badge!"

Vance gets up from his throne and crosses over to his own rectangle. "Your challenge is accepted," he says. "I must say, I'm quite looking forward to this, Luke. After battling alongside you against Team SPF earlier, I know how you battle, and the strategies you may employ. I'm hoping you'll use your full power in your battle against me, despite the fact that we have previously fought on the same side."

I grin at him. "You bet I will," I promise.

"Good," says Vance with a smile. "You know the rules. We will each use three Pokémon, who will battle one-on-one over three rounds with no switching during rounds. The first to win two rounds is declared the winner."

"All right," I say, detaching my first Poké Ball. "Let's get this battle started then, Vance."

"Not so fast, Luke," Vance says, holding out a hand. "As the Gym Leader, I get to design my Gym as I see fit. We cannot battle until the arena is fully prepared."

"Fully…prepared?" I repeat, confused.

"That's right." Vance holds his arms out and looks towards the sky. "Ascend!" he calls out.

There is a great shuddering, and suddenly the entire arena floor begins to ascend towards the sky, passing by the open roof of the Gym and rising higher and higher into the sky. It finally comes to a halt at least a hundred feet above the top level of Skyris Town, and I look around at the scenery and surroundings spread out below. I swallow instinctively. I hadn't thought of myself as being afraid of heights, but now I'm not so sure…

"Right, _now_ we're ready to battle," Vance says, lowering his arms and looking over to me. He is clearly unperturbed by the height of the arena. "Choose your first Pokémon."

"Is this thing safe?" I ask before I can stop myself.

Vance laughs. "Completely safe. We're supported by four thick hydraulic arms, so there's nothing to worry about. Just watch your Pokémon carefully – after all, there's no walls now, so don't get too over-zealous with your attacks."

I swallow again, picturing Reo plummeting a hundred feet from the arena floor after missing a tackle. I shake my head to clear this disturbing image and focus on the task at hand. "All right," I say. I throw down the Poké Ball that is still in my hand. "For my first Pokémon, I'll use Staravia!"

My black and white bird Pokémon bursts free from her Poké Ball and flutters her wings aggressively. "Star!" she cries out.

A grin appears on Vance's face. "Interesting…" he says. He detaches a Poké Ball from his belt and throws it into the arena. "In that case…I will also use Staravia!"

The ball hits the arena floor and bursts open in a flash of white light. When it clears, hovering across the battlefield opposite my Staravia is another black and white bird Pokémon, almost identical except for the fact that the white circle on its head is noticeably bigger than the one on my own Staravia. Vance's Pokémon opens its beak and cries out. "Star!" it chirps, its voice a fraction deeper than my Pokémon's.

"Your Staravia is a boy?" I question.

"Well spotted," Vance says with an impressed smile. "Not many people can tell the difference. I guess having a Staravia of your own to compare with helps. Yours is a girl, am I right?"

"Yeah."

"How do you find her? Is she easy enough to handle?"

"Vance, we're supposed to be having a battle, not a conversation," I remind him.

Vance scratches the back of his neck sheepishly. "Oh yeah," he mumbles, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry. I'm a little fond of Flying Pokémon, as you can tell, and it's nice to meet a fellow Trainer who appreciates…"

"Staravia, Quick Attack!" I call out, interrupting Vance's flow. Vance looks up, taken by surprise as my Staravia dives into his and knocks it down to the floor.

"That'll teach you to keep your head in the game," I say with a grin. "Staravia, hit it again!" Staravia wraps her wings around her body and dives down towards Vance's Staravia, which is struggling to get to its feet.

"Dodge it, Staravia!" Vance calls out. His Staravia heeds the call and takes off into the air, and my Staravia just manages to come to a halt before she crashes into the arena floor. "Wing Attack!" Vance calls, and his Staravia stretches out its large wing to strike mine across the side of the head.

My Staravia is knocked backwards, but maintains her position in the air. "Don't let it hit you again, Staravia!" I call out. "Use Double Team to gain an evasive advantage!" Staravia begins to fly around very rapidly, creating many illusions of itself.

Vance does not seem perturbed by this. "Staravia, Aerial Ace attack!" Vance's Staravia watches the ring of flying bird Pokémon carefully, then suddenly darts forward and strikes my Pokémon with his beak, making contact with the real thing and sending her crashing down to the floor.

"Staravia!" I cry. I grit my teeth and watch on as Staravia tries to get back to her feet.

"Do it again, Staravia!" Vance orders. His Staravia darts down towards mine, beak pointing forwards, ready to strike once more.

"Staravia, Endeavor!" I call out. Just as Vance's Staravia is about to hit mine, she looks up and makes eye contact with the swooping bird. There is a bright flash of light, and when it clears I notice that Vance's Staravia has ground to a halt, suddenly exhausted.

"Now, Wing Attack!" I command. "Hit it from there!" Staravia obediently stretches out her right wing and brings it across to strike Vance's Pokémon forcefully, sending it falling backwards and skidding across the arena floor. Vance watches on for a moment, but his Pokémon does not recover.

"Yes!" I cry, unable to stop myself. "We won the first round." I detach Staravia's Poké Ball and hold it up. "You were awesome, Staravia. Come… Hey, what are you doing?" To my surprise, Staravia has landed and is walking over to Vance's Staravia. She lets out a slightly apologetic chirp and strokes her defeated opponent's back with her wing, as though saying there are no hard feelings between them.

"Staravia, well done. Return," Vance says, recalling his bird Pokémon. Now that her opponent has been recalled, Staravia turns to me and gives a nod, and I recall her, too.

"What was all that about?" I ask Vance.

"Your Staravia is an interesting character," Vance says. "She understood the importance of the match, so she was willing to battle, but I don't think she particularly liked the idea of facing a fellow Staravia. She's very sporting," he adds with a smile. "But anyway, like you said, we're here to battle, not converse. You won the first round. Choose your second round Pokémon."

I unclip the next Poké Ball from my belt and send it into battle. "Ralts, you're up next!" I call as my little psychic Pokémon, the only member of my team that is currently unevolved, emerges.

"Ralts!" she cries confidently.

"My second round battler will be Pidgeotto," Vance announces, sending his own Poké Ball into the battle. The Pokémon bursts free and I recognise it as the one I battled alongside against Reddic and Greson earlier. I remove my Pokédex from my pocket and hold it up to the bird Pokémon, which is somewhat larger than Staravia and much bigger than my little Ralts.

"Pidgeotto. The Bird Pokémon. The evolved form of Pidgey. It has outstanding vision. However high it flies, it is able to distinguish the movements of its prey."

"You might remember this one," Vance says from across the battlefield. "But Pidgeotto won't let up just because you worked together once."

I nod in understanding. "Then let's get this battle started. Ralts, Confusion!"

The horns on Ralts' head begin to glow, and Pidgeotto is suddenly thrust backwards slightly by the force of the psychic attack. It looks shaken for a moment, but recovers its composure.

"Do it again, Ralts!" I command, and Ralts obediently launches another Confusion at Pidgeotto, who is sent backwards again, but still looks ready for more.

"Pidgeotto, Quick Attack!" Vance commands, and Pidgeotto makes to swoop down towards Ralts.

"Ralts, block it with Reflect!" I order. Ralts' horns glow once more and Pidgeotto crashes into the hastily erected invisible wall that protects my little Pokémon. This time it looks severely buffeted, its confidence knocked somewhat.

"Hang in there, Pidgeotto! Knock it off its feet with a Gust attack!" Pidgeotto begins to flap its wings powerfully, and a blast of wind succeeds in knocking Ralts down and sending her sliding backwards across the floor, coming to rest dangerously close to the edge of the arena and the one hundred foot drop that awaits.

"Watch out, Ralts!" I call desperately.

"All right, Pidgeotto! Now, take it up into the sky!"

Pidgeotto swoops down and grabs Ralts in its talons and I watch on, horrified, as it begins to soar higher and higher into the sky.

"Ralts, use Confusion to-" I begin to say.

"No, Luke!" Reo interrupts urgently. "If Ralts breaks Pidgeotto's grip, she will simply fall to the ground, and possibly miss the arena altogether. We'll just have to hope Ralts can deal with this attack." I continue to watch, bracing myself as the little speck that is Pidgeotto grows ever smaller.

"Pidgeotto, Sky Drop attack!" Vance calls into the sky. The little speck suddenly stops moving, then begins to grow larger and larger very rapidly as Pidgeotto comes diving towards the ground. As it approaches, it brings its talons and the helpless Ralts down in front of it, and there is a sickening crash as Pidgeotto lands on its feet and slams Ralts into the floor with the full force of the dive. Pidgeotto takes off once more, leaving Ralts knocked out below. There was no way it could have withstood such a devastating manoeuvre.

"Ralts, return," I call, feeling an uncomfortable lump in my throat. My battle plan has fallen apart. I've lost the second round. Now what do I do?

Across the field, Vance has recalled Pidgeotto. He looks over at me. "We're even Stevens. You won round one, I won round two. The final round awaits. Choose your last Pokémon, Luke."

I run over things in my head. Swadloon or Reo… Swadloon is a Bug and Grass Pokémon, giving it a massive weakness to Vance's final Flying Pokémon. Reo's weakness is slightly less, his solitary Fighting-type still weak to Flying, but not by as much.

"Luke…" Reo begins softly.

I turn to him. "I know. I'm sorry, Reo, but I'm gonna have to pick you," I tell him apologetically.

"Luke, you do realise that I am part Steel-type, don't you?"

I pause for a moment, thrown. "What?"

"I'm a dual-type Pokémon. Check it on your Pokédex: Fighting and Steel," Reo says, a smile beginning to spread across his face. "You were so worried about me, you must have forgotten. My Steel-type covers up my Fighting-type's weakness to Flying."

I think about this for a moment, then smile myself. Of course! What an idiot I am!

"All right then," I say, my confidence now restored. "In that case, you're up." I turn to Vance. "Reo will be my third round Pokémon," I announce, as Reo walks around in front of me, facing off against Vance.

"Ah, I was hoping I'd get the chance to battle against this one," Vance says with a smile. He detaches his third and final Poké Ball. "Go, Noctowl!"

The Ball opens and reveals a large brown owl Pokémon with huge eyebrows and concentric rings around its dark, wise eyes. "Noctowl," it calls in a low, calm voice. I point my Pokédex towards it for more information.

"Noctowl. The Owl Pokémon. The evolved form of Hoothoot. Its eyes are specially adapted. They concentrate even faint light and enable it to see in the dark."

"All right then," I say confidently. I decide to try something new, now that I have remembered Reo's second type. "Reo, start things off with a Metal Claw!"

Reo runs across the field towards Noctowl, his right paw glowing silver. As he nears his opponent, he jumps up and brings his paw across to slash at Noctowl. Noctowl looks ruffled for a brief moment but does not move or fall down as I had expected.

"Noctowl, Hypnosis," Vance orders. Noctowl's eyes glow white and a peculiar humming sound is heard. Reo staggers backwards, then collapses onto the floor in a deep slumber.

"Reo!" I call out loudly, trying to rouse my Pokémon, but failing. "Wake up, Reo!"

"Noctowl, Dream Eater," Vance says calmly. Noctowl takes a few steps forward so it is standing over the sleeping form of Reo. It lowers its beak almost lovingly down to Reo's head, as though to kiss him goodnight, its eyes glowing brightly once more.

Reo's body shudders violently as his dream is absorbed into Noctowl, who is returned immediately to full strength. From my position, I see Reo open his eyes wearily and get slowly and unsteadily to his feet.

"It's weakened. Noctowl, Fly up high!" Vance calls, and Noctowl spreads its large wings wide and takes off into the sky. Reo watches it warily for a moment, taking a couple of steps backwards.

"Now, strike!" Vance calls, and Noctowl swoops down towards Reo.

I am ready for the attack. "Reo, Endure it!" I call. Reo wraps his arms around his body and braces himself as Noctowl collides with him. There is a huge crash and Reo is sent skating backwards a couple of feet, but he manages to survive the hit. Noctowl looks distinctly ruffled, as though the impact took a lot out of it as well.

"Don't worry, Noctowl, you've nearly got it," Vance calls encouragingly. "Fly up again, it can't hit you like that!" Noctowl obediently spreads its wings and takes off once more.

"Oh yes he can!" I cry out, recalling the added function of Reo's special move. "Reo, Aura Sphere!" Reo gathers his strength, forming the ball of energy between his palms, then fires it up towards Noctowl. A wisp of cloud passes over the large owl Pokémon just as the ball hits it, and the next thing we see is Noctowl come plummeting to the ground, knocked out of the sky from the force of the attack.

"Yeah, that's it! Now take it out with a Metal Claw!" I command. Reo darts across and strikes Noctowl with his glowing paw once more. Noctowl shudders and rolls over, then becomes still. There is silence for a moment.

"All right! We did it!" I cry joyfully, jumping and punching the air. I run across into the battlefield to hug Reo. "You were awesome, Reo. Thank you."

"No thanks necessary," Reo says. He looks at my face with pride. "We're a team, remember? Our victory was just as much down to your tactics as anything else."

"Yeah, but you were the one who reminded me about how you could stand up to Flying Pokémon," I say to him.

"True, but you were the one who then used that to your advantage and commanded me in that battle," Reo replies. "You need to start believing in yourself more, Luke. You believe in your Pokémon, but you still don't quite trust your own strength. If we believe in you, why don't you?"

I have no answer to that question, I just turn my head slightly and smile a little sheepishly. I guess I was the one giving the instructions in that battle, and I guess that has in part helped me to win my third Gym Badge…

"Luke? Come over here please."

I come out of my reverie and jump slightly, having been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed the arena floor being lowered down to its original position between the Gym's four walls. The call came from Vance, who has returned to his place in the throne, and Reo and I cross over to him now.

"Luke, you are the victor," Vance says with a smile. "It is my great pleasure to present to you the official Pokémon League Cloud Badge!" I accept the Badge from Vance and affix it to my jacket, the inside of which now resembles Elliot's with its three Badges lined up side by side: Valley, Garden and Cloud. Only five more to go…

"Thank you, Vance," I say gratefully. "It's been great to battle both with and against you. You're a great Gym Leader and an awesome Trainer, too. By the way…" I add, something just occurring to me. "Do you have a Xtransciever?"

"Of course," Vance says, extracting it from his pocket and handing it to me, a little puzzled. "Why do you ask?"

"Because if that motley crew ever shows up here again, and you need a little help dealing with them," I say as I enter my number into Vance's contacts list, "then you know who to call." I hand the device back to my new friend and ally with a smile, and he smiles back at me.

"I'll be sure to do that. Good luck on your journey, Luke. Until we meet again."

"Goodbye, Vance," I say. I extend my hand to him and he shakes it, before I turn and exit the Gym, ready to return to the Pokémon Center and spend my final night in Skyris Town before my journey resumes tomorrow.


	13. A Beacon to the Past

**13.**

**A BEACON TO THE PAST**

"You did it, Reo! We won!" I call out in delight, jumping up and punching the air. Across the battlefield from me, my opponent recalls his final, defeated Pokémon.

Arko looks up at me. "Well, it looks like you beat me," he says, his tone somewhat disappointed. "Congratulations, Luke. You are now the new Champion of the Pokémon League!"

I let out a cheer, but my voice is drowned out by a loud buzzing noise. I clap my hands over my ears and screw my eyes up in unpleasant surprise, but the noise persists. I shake my head as if trying to shake something off of me, but still the noise doesn't let up.

"What?!" I cry in frustration, opening my eyes. I am lying in a bed in the Pokémon Center in Skyris Town, my dream of defeating Arko fading rapidly. The buzzing noise that awoke me continues, and I turn to my left and behold my Xtransciever, lit up and vibrating noisily to show that I have an incoming call. With a grudging sigh I pick it up and answer.

On the screen of the Xtransciever appears an inscrutable face, with piercing brown eyes the same colour as the curled hair that protrudes from under a black top hat. "Hello, Luke," the man on the screen says.

"Ben!" I say, surprised. "Why are you calling me? And do you realise what time it is? I was fast asleep."

"Yes, I know," Ben says simply. "I wouldn't usually call you, or anyone, for that matter, at one in the morning, but I would like to ask for your help with something."

Now my curiosity is piqued, and the last of my tiredness begins to fade. "What do you need my help with?"

"Would you like to meet a legendary Pokémon, Luke?"

My eyes widen and I let out an involuntary gasp. "Are you serious?" I ask, slightly breathlessly.

"Yes. Are you interested?" Ben asks, the slightest hint of sarcasm in his question.

"Of course I'm interested!" I reply, jumping out of bed. "How do I get involved?"

"Head out of Skyris Town along the trail that leads to the coastline. Once you reach the shore, turn left. You will see a lighthouse atop a cliff. That is where I am waiting, and hopefully, that is where Victini will soon appear."

"Awesome, I'll see you in…" I stop for a moment, my heart sinking. "Oh, wait. I can't come and meet you after all," I say reluctantly. "There's a curfew here. I'm not allowed out until ten am."

"Don't worry. I'll deal with that," Ben says, a faint smile appearing at the corners of his mouth. "I will see you here in precisely one hour. Normally I would come and escort you myself, but Luna is here with me, and it wouldn't be very gentlemanly to leave a young lady alone in the middle of the night, especially when she is sound asleep."

If I needed any more persuading, the mention of Luna is enough. A huge grin spreads across my face and I nod vigorously. "OK. See you in an hour, Ben." I hang up and replace the Xtransciever on my bedside table, before hurriedly searching for a clean set of clothes to change into.

"What's going on?" Reo asks sleepily, evidently woken by the conversation.

"We're off to meet Ben at a lighthouse near here," I tell him. "He says a legendary Pokémon is supposed to show up there."

Reo raises his eyebrows and looks at me. "We're going to meet Ben in the middle of the night?" he repeats incredulously.

"Yes," I tell him firmly. "Are you coming or would you rather stay here?"

"No, of course I'll come with you," Reo says with a scowl. "I don't trust this guy, as you well know. If you insist on going to meet him, then there's no way I'm letting you go alone."

I snort and shake my head, before continuing to get dressed. Once I am ready I call Reo to my side and leave the room. I proceed through the hallways carefully and quietly, not wanting to wake any of the fellow guests. When I arrive in the lobby I notice the policewoman on guard standing up with a dazed expression on her face. I approach the doors.

"Go right ahead. I'll shut the doors after you," she says in monotone, not looking down at me. I head towards the doors, which slide open for me automatically despite the closed sign, and step out into the cold night air. I pull my jacket closer around myself and shiver as the doors close behind me and the Pokémon Center seals itself once more.

"I don't like this," Reo says as we head towards the exit of the town.

"You don't like anything to do with this guy," I remind him.

"Can you blame me? Did you see what his psychic powers did to that police officer?" Reo asks me with a shudder. "He can control people like they're puppets to him. He could do that to you, too."

"He's trying to help," I say, trying to be reasonable. "That police officer would never have let us out normally. I'm sure he'll have released her back to her old self now we're out."

"I don't know, Luke," Reo says, unconvinced. "I still think this is a bad idea."

I ignore Reo's numerous protests and follow the directions Ben gave me in his call. I head along the path leading out of town, keeping my eyes and ears open in case any wild Pokémon fancy their chances against me. Finally I come to the top of a large hill and behold the wide ocean spread out before me. I look left and see, as promised, the lighthouse on the edge of the cliff, where Ben awaits.

I head over to it and check my watch. Two am, exactly an hour after Ben called me. His powers of prediction are clearly as impressive as he makes out. I raise my hand to knock the door, but before I can it is pulled open from the inside to reveal Ben, dressed in his finest, cane in hand, looking down at me.

"Right on time," he says with a faint smile. "Come on in." I move across the threshold, followed grudgingly by Reo, and Ben closes the door behind us.

"Welcome to Hope Lighthouse," Ben says, leading the way across the entrance chamber, which is large and has a high ceiling. "So named because its construction brought hope to the sailors travelling from the far shores of the ocean that splits Silvari in half. Before it was built, there were many collisions with the dangerous cliffs around this area, and…"

"Save us the history lesson, Ben," Reo interrupts. "What do you want with us? Why have you summoned us here?"

Ben shrugs. "I just thought Luke might want to meet a legendary Pokémon, that's all," he says in an offhand manner. "With his help, I hope to convince Victini to appear here in this lighthouse."

"And why should I believe that?" Reo asks now.

Ben stops and turns to him. "Reo, you seem tired. Go and get some sleep. I'll look after Luke for a while."

"No way," Reo says with a shake of his head. "I'm not leaving you alone with him."

"Reo, please… I would like to speak with Luke alone for a while. I promise I will not allow anything to happen to him."

"I don't trust your word," Reo says stubbornly.

Annoyed, I detach a Poké Ball from my belt and hold it up to my partner. Reo looks at me, surprised and a little hurt.

"If you're not going to leave us alone, then I'll call you back," I tell him. "I trust Ben, so why don't you? I listen to you whenever you help me out, so please, just this once will you listen to me?"

Reo continues to look at me for a moment, then gives a defeated sigh.

"All right…" he says tonelessly. "Where am I sleeping?"

Ben points to the far end of the room, where a large wooden door is set into the far wall. "The stairs are through there. Go up to the second floor. Luna is asleep in the room on the first floor, and I doubt she'd be happy to awaken and find a strange Pokémon asleep with her. Take the room on the second floor. You'll find everything you need in there."

"I'll bet I will…" Reo mutters to himself, so quietly it is barely audible. "I'll go, but I'm not going to sleep," he says. He looks hard at Ben. "You get thirty minutes. Then I'm coming back."

"Reo, this is ridiculous…" I begin, but Ben holds up his hand to silence me.

"No, Luke. If Reo has made his decision not to trust me, then I will have to live with that. After all, he can sense the auras of other people. There must be something about me he doesn't like. If it will set his mind at ease, then he may return in thirty minutes, when he shall find you completely unharmed, and exactly as he left you."

Reo snorts, as though he doubts it, before finally turning and stalking away haughtily towards the door, which he closes behind him. I don't hear the sound of him ascending any stairs, and I'm willing to bet that he has simply sat down outside the door so that he can come running if he hears anything happen to me. As touched as I am by my partner's loyalty to me, I can't shake the feeling that it is completely unnecessary.

I sigh and turn to Ben. "I'm sorry about Reo," I say.

"Don't be," he says, sitting down cross-legged on the stone floor and inviting me to do the same. "You are right, he is as loyal a Pokémon as I have ever seen. He genuinely believes I am out to harm you, and wants to do everything in his power to stop me from doing so."

"And are you?" The question is out of my mouth before I can stop it.

"Of course not. Though, if I were, I wouldn't be likely to admit it to you plainly, would I?" Ben looks sideways at me, as though wondering what my reaction to this proclamation will be.

"So why have you lured me to this lighthouse, which is abandoned and out of the way, in the middle of the night?" I ask him now.

"I didn't lure you, I invited you," Ben protests.

"Yeah, but you knew that as soon as you said there would be legendary Pokémon here, I'd be interested," I argue. "And then you just happened to slip in the fact that you've brought Luna with you. You knew I wouldn't say no."

Ben laughs, which to my mind is always an uncharacteristic thing for him to do, as he is usually so guarded about his emotions. "That's true. Fine then, I lured you, if that's what you want to believe. I never saw it that way myself, but I'm sure Reo would be happy to know that you are accusing me of such things."

"You still haven't answered the question," I remind him, determined to make him answer me this time. "Why do you need me here? You said I could help you somehow. Why do you need my help to meet a legendary Pokémon?"

"What do you know about Victini, Luke?"

"Answer my question, first," I demand.

"I am answering it. What do you know about Victini?"

I pause, thrown. "Nothing," I admit.

"Victini was once a resident of the Unova region, which is very far from Silvari," Ben explains. "It lived on an island called Liberty Garden, beneath a lighthouse not dissimilar to this one. One day, the island was attacked by the criminal sect Team Plasma, who had discovered Victini's resting place and sought to capture it. Terrified, Victini fled the lighthouse and left Unova altogether, heading for destinations unknown. My research has led me to believe that Victini may have fled here, to Silvari, and it is my sole aim to see that Pokémon, just to meet it, and then I will be satisfied."

"Why do you want to meet it?" I ask.

"Victini is a Psychic Pokémon," Ben says, a smile on his face. "Being a psychic myself, I have always had an affinity for Psychic-type Pokémon. Victini's dual Psychic- and Fire-type is also unique. There is no other Pokémon like that in the world. To have met such a Pokémon would be an incredible achievement for me."

"But then in that case, why wouldn't you want to own it yourself?" I ask, puzzled. "If it's so rare, surely it would make a great addition to your team."

"I do not believe that legendary Pokémon should ever be captured," Ben says seriously. "Power such as that is best left out of human hands. I don't even trust myself into thinking I could not resist the urge to become corrupt if I was in possession of such power."

"But you're known as Ramon Victicious, the most powerful man in Silvari," I argue now. Everything I learn about this guy makes less and less sense.

"That is a moniker, a title, an alter-ego," Ben says. "You know that. And I told you before, I have my reasons for requiring a celebrity status."

"Are you going to tell me what they are?"

"No."

I slump down, dejected. "Well, at least you gave me a straight answer this time," I mutter, and Ben laughs once more at this. I look up at his face, which seems so much more human when he laughs. It's almost a shame that it's such a rare occurrence.

"So, if you're ever going to answer my original question, why do you need me here to meet Victini?" I ask for what feels like the hundredth time.

"I told you. I don't trust myself to remain innocent if I were to capture Victini. It will know that. So I need someone pure, with a virtuous heart, by my side in order to convince Victini that I am here to meet it only."

"And that's why you brought Luna," I conclude with a nod. "What about me?"

"That is why I brought both Luna and you."

An awkward silence follows this announcement. "You're not serious," I say quietly.

"Luke, you are one of the most honest and true people I have ever met," Ben says. "Your determination to pursue the Silvari Pokémon Force for what they aim to achieve is evidence enough of that."

"But you're after them too," I protest, "and yet you're not sure if Victini would trust you."

Ben turns away from me, his face growing somewhat darker. I look at him in surprise. "What is it?" I ask, slightly fearfully.

There is a pause. "It is true that I also hunt the band known as Team SPF," Ben says quietly. "But I have my own reasons for that."

"What do you mean?" I ask, equally quietly.

"Too many personal issues to even name," is the response.

I shuffle slightly closer to him, and place my hand on his shoulder in an attempt to both reassure and comfort him. "Ben… Please tell me," I request. "You can trust me, honest."

Ben looks up, and his piercing brown eyes connect with my own.

"You haven't met the leader of Team SPF, have you, Luke?"

"No," I confirm, shaking my head.

Ben looks away again. "Team SPF…have someone of great personal importance to me."

"And you want to get them back?"

"That would be nice, yes…" Ben says, a touch of sadness in his voice. This too takes me by surprise. His cold and distant persona has suddenly been shattered, and now he looks almost vulnerable, and again so human compared to how he usually portrays himself.

"So why haven't you? You're a strong Trainer, I can tell that just by looking at you. I bet you could take down the entire Team SPF on your own easily."

"There are…certain obstacles that I cannot overcome."

"Like what?"

Ben looks up at me, a smile on his face. "This shouldn't concern you," he says. His voice sounds different somehow – warmer and friendlier. "My personal life shouldn't be of any interest to you, Luke."

"Well, it is," I say, somewhat stubbornly. "Come on, Ben. You know everything about me, you can read my mind. It'd be nice to get a little something back."

"Perhaps you will, someday," Ben says quietly. "But now is not the time for that. It is getting late, and Victini has yet to appear. I'm sorry for bringing you here unnecessarily."

"Don't be," I say to him. "I'm still glad I came."

"You should be getting to bed," Ben says with a small smile. "Reo will be concerned if you stay up much longer. Rest assured that I will call for you if anything happens."

"All right then, if you say so," I say, getting to my feet. "Goodnight, Ben."

"Goodnight, Luke. Sleep well."

I leave Ben sitting on the floor and make my way across the room to the large wooden door on the far side that Reo passed through earlier. I open it and find myself in a narrow stairwell that curves up to my left. Sitting on the second step, fast asleep, is my partner Pokémon. I give a small smile and stretch out my arm to shake him gently.

"Reo, it's me, Luke," I say. "Wake up."

Reo's eyes open slowly and he looks up at me. "Luke… Are you all right?" he asks me.

"I'm fine," I confirm. "Just tired, as you are, by the looks of things. We should get to bed."

"Are you not going to stay up and meet your legendary Pokémon?" Reo asks.

"I don't think Victini's going to appear here, tonight," I say. "And anyway, Ben said he'll call us if he sees anything."

"And you still trust him to keep his word?"

"Of course I do," I say to my partner as we begin to ascend the spiral stairs towards our room on the second floor. "It's only you that's paranoid about him."

Reo gives me a stern look at this remark, clearly not fond of my choice of words. I ignore him and push through the second floor door, where I arrive in a large bedroom where, as usual, Ben has prepared a bed for both me and my companion. The window on the wall facing us is large, and allows the moonlight from the silvery moon outside to permeate and fill the air with a mystical light. I walk across to my bed and lay down upon it, suddenly feeling very tired.

"Reo?" I ask, my voice somewhat muffled by the bed covers.

"What is it, Luke?"

"You're the Aura Pokémon, aren't you? You can sense people's auras?"

"Yes. What of it?"

"Can you not sense Ben's aura and determine what kind of a person he is? Your power is a little bit similar to his in a way, and I was just wondering if…"

"Of course I can sense his aura," Reo responds a little stubbornly. "But let's not forget that this guy disguises himself using a psychic cloak. I don't trust anything about this guy, not even my senses."

"OK, if you insist," I say, climbing into bed without bothering to change into my pyjamas. "I was just hoping you might be able to give me some of the answers he's keeping from me, that's all."

"Luke… Forgive me for asking, but why are you so determined to know everything about this guy?" Reo asks, his voice softer now. He is genuinely curious.

I think about this for a moment. "I don't know," I admit. "I feel like there's some sort of…connection between us. An affinity of sorts. Not the same as the affinity I have with you, obviously," I add, looking up at my companion with a smile. "It's just… There's something about him that seems…familiar in some way. Like…I know him from somewhere."

"And you're waiting for him to reveal what that is?" Reo asks.

"I have to know, Reo," I say seriously. "My instincts are telling me that he's keeping something really, really important from me. Something I need to know." I yawn widely. "But never mind that now. I'm tired, and I want to go to sleep."

Reo smiles at me and crosses over to his own bed, climbing into it without protest, which surprises me somewhat. "Well, I won't argue with that," he says. "Perhaps we should have Luna come sing us a lullaby to help us get to sleep. What do you say?"

"Right now, Reo, I don't even think…" I begin to say, but I do not get to finish. My head has hit the pillow, my eyes have closed, and I am already fast asleep.


	14. The Masked Menace

**14.**

**THE MASKED MENACE**

The next morning, I awaken relatively late due to not getting to sleep until gone half past two. I dress quickly and make my way down the stairs of the lighthouse, followed by Reo. I do not wish to stay longer in this place than I have to, now that I am sure Victini will not be appearing here, and I want to get back on track with my Gym Challenge.

I reach the bottom of the stairs and push open the large wooden doors to enter the main chamber, where the first thing I hear is a high, musical voice.

"You're finally awake!" the voice says. I look and see that Luna has awakened also and is standing halfway across the room, looking at me, a smile on her pretty face.

"Uh… Yeah," I say, unable to think of anything else.

"Tell me, are you always this lazy or did you just decide to treat me?" Luna asks, winking at me cheekily.

"Well, some of us were up rather late," I say, not quite meeting her eye. "And I didn't know you'd be waiting for me."

"Oh, of course I'm waiting for you!" Luna says, as though surprised that I hadn't realised this. "Mr. Victicious told me all about you, Luke Norton of Tranila Town."

"He did, did he?" I ask blithely. A moment later I realise how stupid I sound and try and regain my focus. "Uh, what did he tell you, exactly?"

"He said you're on a journey to collect Gym Badges, and you're travelling all over Silvari to do it," Luna summarises. "And I said that sounded awesome, so he suggested I join you for a while."

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. "You…want to come with me?" I repeat.

"Sure! Is that all right?" Luna asks.

"Well, I guess so," I say, trying to shrug my shoulders as if it's no big deal, even though inside I'm jumping up and down unable to believe my luck. The girl from my dream is actually asking to travel with me.

"Awesome!" Luna says happily. "We're gonna make a great team, I just know it. Oh, but first, I should properly introduce myself. I'm Luna. Luna McKowski."

"Yeah, I know," I say, like an idiot, before I can stop myself.

"You know?" Luna repeats, looking at me suspiciously. "What do you mean, you know? We've never met before."

"Uh, Ben—I mean, Mr. Victicious told me about you before," I say, relieved that I have an excuse other than 'I dreamed about you once'. "You're kinda like his adopted sister or something, right?"

Luna laughs. "Sister? That's a bit generous. I could never hope to be as magnificent as him…" Luna repeats in a somewhat dreamy voice. From beside me, Reo gives a slight cough of disapproval. "But I suppose you're kinda right. He took me in when I had nowhere else to go."

"That's very generous of him," I say with an appreciative nod. "Don't you think so, Reo?" I say, looking pointedly at my partner.

"Very generous," Reo admits with a scowl.

Luna lets out a short gasp. "Your Pokémon can talk?" she says, stunned.

"Yeah," I say with a smile. "This is Reo. Say hello to Luna, Reo."

Reo crosses over the room to Luna and extends his paw, which she looks at in surprise for a moment before smiling and shaking it. "Hello, Luna. I'm looking forward to travelling with you for a while."

"Me too, Reo. It's gonna be so much fun!" Luna says excitedly.

I pluck up my courage and cross the room to stand beside my partner, facing Luna. "So," I say to her. "I've already won my first three Badges, so I need to head off to the town with the fourth Gym now."

"Oh, that's Erique Island," Luna recites, and I look at her in surprise for a moment. "The Gym Leader there is Ariel. She loves Water Pokémon. The whole town is on an island, so you'll need to cross the ocean to get there."

"How do you know all this?" I ask.

"Mr. Victicious has been teaching me about all the Gyms in Silvari," Luna explains. "I'm hoping to challenge them myself someday."

"Awesome," I say to her, impressed. "So how do we get to Erique Island, then?"

"Well, since we're next to the ocean, we can cross to there from anywhere along here, really," Luna says. "But of course, you need a Pokémon that knows how to use Surf to cross the ocean."

"Oh…" I say, disappointed. "I don't have anyone that knows Surf. I don't even have the Hidden Machine for Surf either, now that I think about it."

"Don't worry! I hear there's a TM shop in Beachpalm Town," Luna says, her geographical knowledge already proving to be far better than my own. "If we follow the shoreline around from here, we should get to there eventually. They just might be able to sell you a HM for Surf."

"All right, I guess that's our plan then," I say confidently. To my surprise, now that the conversation has built up somewhat, I feel a lot less self-conscious around Luna. Although she still remains as attractive, she's not really any different to any of my other friends. I find hanging out with her as easy as hanging out with Elliot, or someone else like that.

Luna, Reo and I leave the lighthouse and begin to follow the coastline around and away from it. It's a beautiful day and the sun blazes high overhead. I remove my jacket after a very short while and allow the heat to warm my body as we travel and talk together, chatting amicably about our experiences with Pokémon so far.

Luna asks me about my Gym Battles so far, and I explain what happened in each of them. When I tell her about battling alongside Vance against Team SPF, she asks to know more about them, which leads me onto a full explanation about the Silvari Pokémon Force, what they aim to achieve, and how thus far I have been successful in preventing them from doing so.

"But hold on, you live with Mr. Victicious, right?" I say with a frown as I finish my story. "Isn't he hunting Team SPF as well?"

"Yeah," Luna confirms with a nod, "that's one of his main projects. But he never really told me anything about them. I just thought they were your average, everyday criminals."

"When I was talking to him last night, he told me that Team SPF kidnapped someone important to him," I tell her, "and apparently that's why he's so determined to go after them. Do you have any idea who that could be?"

"None at all, I'm afraid," Luna says, shaking her head sadly. "He's never mentioned anything like that before. He's always so guarded about what he says, even to me, and I've been with him almost a year now."

I can't think of anything else to say about Ben, so I change the subject, and for a while talk to Luna about her experiences as a Pokémon Trainer. She reveals to me that her Jigglypuff has been with her for the longest, having found her out when she was still an orphan and acting as her companion, while her Ralts was her first ever true capture. She says that she caught it in Musharna's Playground, under supervision from Ben, as part of her training.

"What about your third Pokémon?" I ask her, recalling that she had three Poké Balls at her waist in my dream.

"I don't have a third Pokémon," she says with a slight frown. "I'd never mentioned having more than two. What made you think I had three?"

"Oh, uh…" I struggle to come up with an excuse that doesn't involve my dream. "It's just…you mentioned that you were planning on challenging the Gyms someday, right? I just assumed you had three Pokémon, cause the Leaders won't battle you unless you have three," I ramble.

"I know that, silly!" Luna teases. "I've just not got round to catching my third Pokémon yet."

Suddenly, from out of the sky, a bird Pokémon swoops down and grabs Luna's hat, before flying off. "Hey!" she calls after it. "Bring that back!"

The Pokémon turns around and lands on the sand a short way in front of us, sitting inside Luna's hat. "Duck," it tweets smugly. The bird does indeed look something like a duck, and is light blue in colour, with a yellow beak and claws. I remove my Pokédex from my jeans pocket and hold it up to the Pokémon.

"Ducklett," the Pokédex announces in its robotic voice. "The Water Bird Pokémon. When attacked, it uses its feathers to splash water, escaping under cover of the spray."

"Duck!" Ducklett opens its beak and sprays a forceful jet of water at me and Luna, hitting both of us full in the face. I brush my dripping hair out of my eyes and see Ducklett sitting in Luna's hat laughing at us. "Duck, duck, duck…"

"Bit of a cheeky one, isn't it?" I summarise. "Well, I'll wipe the smile off its face." I turn to Reo to send him into battle, but Luna talks over me.

"Wait, Luke! Let me battle this one. If I can catch it, I'll have my third Pokémon, right?"

"All right," I agree and step backwards to watch. "Good luck, Luna!"

"Thanks," she says with a smile as she detaches a Poké Ball from the belt around her middle. She throws it down onto the sand with a cry of "Go, Jigglypuff!" and her round, pink Pokémon is unleashed, bouncing happily on the sand. I take the moment to point my Pokédex at the Jigglypuff and get its full details registered.

"Jigglypuff. The Balloon Pokémon. When its huge eyes light up, it sings a mysteriously soothing melody that lulls its enemies to sleep."

I look back up at Jigglypuff just in time to see it get splashed in the face by a jet of water from Ducklett. Jigglypuff gives Ducklett a grumpy look as it continues to laugh at her.

"Jigglypuff, give that Ducklett a taste of its own medicine!" Luna calls. "Use Mimic, then Water Gun it right back!" Jigglypuff sucks in a mouthful of air, growing slightly larger as it does so, then opens its mouth and blasts not air but water straight back at Ducklett, who is caught by surprise and knocked onto its back.

"Yeah, that's it!" Luna encourages. "Now use your DoubleSlap attack!" Jigglypuff runs over to Ducklett and begins to slap it back and forth, leaving the little duck Pokémon dazed. "That's enough, Jigglypuff!" Luna calls, and opens her handbag to pull out a Poké Ball. While she is distracted, however, Ducklett stretches out its wing and strikes Jigglypuff, sending it floating backwards a considerable way because it is so light. Ducklett picks up Luna's hat in its claws and makes to fly away.

"Not so fast! Jigglypuff, put it to sleep with your Sing attack!" Luna calls. A smile crosses Jigglypuff's face and its eyes begin to glow brightly as it sings its lullaby. Ducklett's flight pattern begins to droop as it grows ever more drowsy, and even I find my eyes growing heavier. I struggle to keep them open, but to no avail…

"Luke! Wake up!"

The female voice snaps me back to my senses and I awaken to find myself lying on the beach with Luna standing over me and calling me to wake up, seeming as though she is fighting a laugh.

"Hey, sleepy! Come on, get up," she says, holding out her hand, which I take and allow her to help me to my feet. She looks at my face, and a giggle escapes her lips.

"What are you laughing at?" I ask her suspiciously.

"Take a look," she says through her giggles, pulling a small mirror out of her handbag and holding it up to me. I look and jump slightly when I see that someone has drawn a fake moustache and beard and a large pair of comedy glasses on my face while I was asleep.

"Aack!" I exclaim in unpleasant surprise. "Who was that?!"

"Jigglypuff doesn't like it when people other than the intended target fall asleep when she sings," Luna explains, replacing the mirror in her bag.

"You got a face wipe or something in there?" I ask. "I can't go around looking like this."

"No, but I've got something just as good," Luna says cheekily. "Ducklett, Water Gun!"

A powerful spray of water splashes my face and I recoil backwards slightly, wiping the water off. I look at my hands and see that they are stained with black ink. At least that got some of the pen off, I think to myself. I look up at Luna.

"Thanks for that," I say sarcastically.

"Any time," she replies with a giggle.

"I see you caught the Ducklett then," I say, indicating the blue duck Pokémon at her feet. "Nice going."

"Yup," she confirms, picking it up and hugging it. "He's my pal now."

"You have three Pokémon now," I remind her. "You could go and challenge a Gym Leader."

"Well for now I'm happy escorting you to Beachpalm Town," Luna says. "After all, your geography's so bad you'd be hopelessly lost if it wasn't for me." I scowl at her.

Luna's battle with Ducklett and my impromptu nap seem to have taken their toll on both of us, and as such we proceed more slowly and not talking as much as before. As the sun begins to disappear off the horizon, filling the sky with beautiful orange light, we decide to make camp and sleep on the shore for the night, still being some distance away from Beachpalm Town. I unpack my sleeping bag from my backpack for the first time on my journey, unroll it and climb into it, making myself as comfortable as possible on the lumpy sand.

"Goodnight then, Luna," I say with a yawn, rolling over.

"Goodnight Luke… Hey! Wait a minute," she says. I roll back over and see her march imperiously over to my bag, having set up a sleeping bag of her own a few feet away. She reaches down and grabs the zipper on my bag, zipping it all the way up right to my neck.

"Hey! What's that for?" I ask, affronted.

"Insurance," she says with a smile and a wink, before walking over and climbing into her own sleeping bag, which she also zips up carefully. "Sleep tight, Luke. Don't let the bed bugs bite."

Bed bugs. Of course. That must be what she meant by insurance. She's just looking after me… I smile to myself and drift off to sleep.

The next morning, I awaken and stretch widely, a huge grin on my face. Another day walking along the beach with Luna… I roll over onto my side to check if she is awake, but my heart gives an unpleasant jolt when I see that her sleeping bag and handbag, and Luna herself, are all missing.

"Luna!" I cry loudly, jerking Reo out of his own slumber. I scramble out of my sleeping bag and rush over to the area where hers was before. I look down and see the imprint it left in the sand, and a set of footprints leading away from it. The footprints are large and square, and were clearly not made by Luna's small black running shoes.

"What's going on? Where is she?" Reo asks urgently.

"I don't know, but I don't think she had enough of us and just left," I respond, equally panicky. "I think someone's taken her away, judging by these footprints."

"Who would do such a thing?" Reo asks. "What are we going to do?"

"We're gonna go after her, of course!" I cry, picking up my sleeping bag and jamming it into my bag, before setting out at a run, following the footprints. "Come on!"

Reo and I run along the beach for perhaps twenty minutes more before something comes into view over the horizon. It seems to be a small metal structure, which as I draw closer to it I realise is a cage, and as I draw nearer still I realise that Luna is trapped inside it.

"Luna!" I call to her. "Are you all right?"

Luna looks up at the sound of her name and looks over to me. "Luke!" she says in surprise, standing up and crossing over towards me. She grabs the bars with her hands, but lets go again instantly with a cry of pain, wringing her hands as though she has received an electric shock.

"The bars are electrically charged," Reo says warningly. "Better not touch them."

"Luna, how did you end up in there?" I ask her.

"I don't know, I was asleep, and then the next thing I knew I was in here," Luna says with a shake of her head, clearly as confused as I am. "Someone must have brought me here in the middle of the night for some reason."

"Hohoho! I think she must be talking about me!"

A high-pitched singsong voice makes Reo and I wheel around to stare behind us, where we behold a third person who has entered the scene. Whether we ran straight past him earlier, or whether he has just materialised as if from the shadows is unclear; at the moment, the only thing running through my head is how strange the man looks.

He is dressed from the neck downwards in a kind of black metal armour with blue vertical stripes running down it. His heavy boots are large and square, and clearly those that made the footprints that led us here. His head is completely bald, but on his face he wears an extremely unnerving metal mask which covers his entire face apart from his eyes, which shine through a bright blue colour. The mask itself is silver with a blue stripe down the centre, and the three letters SPF written in gold across the forehead, and it fastens around the back of the man's head with four diagonal straps.

"You're Team SPF?" I repeat, beholding the man with a slight feeling of fear.

"You are correct!" the man says, his high, jeering voice somewhat distorted by his creepy mask. "I am one of the commanders of Team SPF, and also the head scientist and inventor."

"Another commander…" I repeat. "I've met Reddic and Greson, so what do they call you? What's your name?"

The man laughs mockingly at me. "My name? My name has been cast aside like an old sock with too many holes. I am known simply as The Blue One, or Blue for short."

"No…" I look to my right and see Reo take a step backward, his tone hushed, his eyes filled with fear. "Not you…"

"Reo?" I ask my partner uncertainly. "What's wrong?"

Reo closes his eyes and shakes his head, evidently unable to say. I look back at The Blue One, who still stands motionless. "My partner's not very keen on you," I point out to him. "So I take it it was you who kidnapped Luna last night?"

"That's right! Do I get a medal for my ingeniousness?"

I look at the man incredulously, not quite knowing what to say. "Uh, no… Why did you take her in the first place?"

"I wanted to meet you, Luke Norton of Tranila Town," The Blue One replies with a giggle. "It was my wish that we should battle here, our epic contest lasting for many days and nights with you finally emerging as the victor and crushing my broken body beneath your mighty feet."

"He's completely insane…" Luna says quietly, and somewhat fearfully.

"Let me get this straight: you want to battle me, even though you know you're going to lose?" I ask him in disbelief.

"Thaaaaaaaaaat's right!" The Blue One cries, jumping up and down on the spot and clapping his metallic gloved hands together. "So, what do you say, friend? When you defeat me successfully, I'll release your little girlfriend here."

"I'm not his girlfriend!" Luna cries indignantly, grabbing the bars of the cage again and forgetting they are electrified. She cries out in pain, stronger this time, and again shakes her hands vigorously as though trying to cool them after they have been burned.

Across from me, The Blue One bursts out laughing. "Look, but do not touch, pretty lady! Every time you touch my bars, their energy level gets stronger, and I'd hate for you to get fried once they reach their highest voltage!" He laughs maniacally again.

"You really are mad…" I say to him.

"I know," he responds simply, chuckling to himself.

"Fine, if that's what it'll take to get us away from you, then battle me already," I say to him. "Send out your Pokémon."

In response, The Blue One lifts his right leg, and I notice that set into the heel of his metal boot is a Poké Ball. He kicks the ball forward and it becomes loose, hitting the sand and bursting open to reveal a peculiar, rune-like Pokémon, circular in shape and blue-green in colour, with two golden eyes, hovering about four feet above the ground.

"What the heck is that supposed to be," I mutter in confusion, pointing my Pokédex at the floating object.

"Bronzor. The Bronze Pokémon. Implements shaped like it were discovered in ancient tombs. It is unknown if they are related."

I turn to Reo, replacing my Pokédex. "Come on then, Reo. Let's get this over with."

"No," Reo says, his voice still full of fear. "I'm sorry, Luke, but I cannot battle against this guy."

I look at him for a moment, feeling a little let down, but I can see the fear in his eyes. Something about The Blue One terrifies my partner to the point that he feels that he cannot battle him. I nod in understanding and turn back towards my bizarre opponent. I select a different Poké Ball from my belt and throw it forward. "Go, Ralts!" I call as my little psychic Pokémon is released from her Poké Ball.

"Ooh, you have a Ralts as well?" Luna asks excitedly, forgetting our predicament for a moment. "Did you catch it in Musharna's Playground, too?"

"I did, as a matter of fact," I mumble to her, awkwardly, recalling my other memories of Musharna's Playground, which I choose not to divulge to her. "But never mind that now. I've got a battle to win. Ralts, kick things off with a Confusion!"

Ralts' horns glow and she unleashes a psychic move on Bronzor, who spins wildly for a moment, but does not look overly perturbed.

"That's a trick you won't use again!" The Blue One jeers at me. "Bronzor, Imprison!" Bronzor's eyes glow red and a red ring brand appears around Ralts' head. My little psychic Pokémon looks shaken for a moment, but not hurt.

"Oh, that's Bronzor's Imprison move," Luna says knowingly. "It stops you from using any moves that Bronzor itself knows."

"Bronzor, show it what a real Confusion attack looks like!" The Blue One sings to his Pokémon. Bronzor's eyes glow white this time and Ralts is thrust backwards from the force of the move. I realise that Ralts won't be able to use Confusion anymore and I grit my teeth, slightly worried.

"Ralts, don't give up! Magical Leaf attack!"

A flurry of glowing leaves appear in the air around Ralts, who slings them at Bronzor, but the move causes minimal damage.

"This is hopeless," I mutter. "Without Confusion, Ralts can barely harm Bronzor. How am I supposed to beat it?"

"Here, let me help you!" Luna says, extracting a Poké Ball from her own belt, and aiming carefully to throw it between the bars of the cage. "Go, Ralts!"

Luna's Ralts comes free and gives a happy cry, glad to be out of its Poké Ball. Its mood changes swiftly though when it looks across and sees my Ralts with the red brand around her head, at which point it looks over at Bronzor angrily.

"Ralts, you're not Imprisoned! Use your own Confusion attack!" Luna calls out. Her Ralts' horns begin to glow and Bronzor shudders violently in mid-air.

"It's weakened!" I realise. "All right, both Ralts, team up with your Magical Leaf, and hit it before it recovers its strength."

Both Ralts obediently summon up the flurry of glowing leaves once more and fire them at Bronzor, who is caught off guard and crashes to the floor, clearly incapable of continuing. The Blue One recalls his Pokémon, and though it is difficult to tell through the metal mask and armour, he appears indifferent to the fact that he lost.

"Just as I predicted," he says in his jeering voice. "You win, so your friend is free." He claps his hands and the cage around Luna disappears in a flash, releasing her. "I'm glad I got to battle you, Luke. That was the most fun I've had in about forty-three hours."

I have no response to this, so I simply continue to stare at The Blue One in disbelief. Me and Luna just ganged up on him, two-on-one, and he isn't even protesting.

The Blue One raises his left leg, which also has a Poké Ball set into it, and kicks it out. From out of this one comes another blue hovering Pokémon, this one a brighter blue with two long arms with sharp claws on the end, and a somewhat flat head with two circular red eyes set into it and spikes across the back. The Blue One jumps onto his Pokémon's back, and it floats a little higher, before turning to me.

"I'll be seeing you again sometime soon, my pal Luke," The Blue One calls with a giggle. "For now, I'll be off to report my failure to our great leader. He'll be most aggrieved that another one of us has failed to stop you, I'm sure! Goodbye for now… Oh! And the next time you see your friend Ben, send him my best regards, would you?"

With that, the mysterious and mad Team SPF commander whizzes off on the back of his Pokémon, cackling insanely to himself. I watch him for a moment, then turn to Luna.

"Are you all right?" I ask her.

"I'm fine, thanks," she says with a smile. "That guy was such a weirdo, though… It's like he wasn't even trying in that battle, not really."

"Even so, without your and Ralts' help, I would've been pretty stuck," I tell her gratefully. "Thanks, Luna."

"Don't mention it." As one, we both look downward to thank and then recall our Ralts, but find that they seem to be in their own little world with one another. As we watch, Luna's Ralts takes mine by the hands and they begin to dance, revolving in circles around the beach.

"Ralts?" I ask uncertainly. "What's going on?"

"Ssh!" Luna hisses at me. "Just watch! This is amazing!" I continue to watch as the two Ralts continue to dance together, until eventually both their bodies begin to glow. I recognise the signs of evolution and step backwards to admire as they both simultaneously grow taller, their head grows larger and two spindly green legs sprout from underneath them. When they finish glowing, both Ralts have now changed into a different Pokémon, and I pull out my Pokédex to get the lowdown on the new creatures, who continue to dance with one another.

"Kirlia. The Emotion Pokémon. The evolved form of Ralts. The cheerful spirit of its Trainer gives it energy for its psychokinetic power. It spins and dances when happy."

"Wow…" Luna says, mesmerised by the scene. "They must both be really happy with one another then."

"Yeah…" I look across at Luna, and she looks at me, and for a moment our eyes remain in contact with one another, before we both divert our attention down to the dancing Kirlia couple, who continue to go about their way without a care in the world. I look at them, entranced. One day, I tell myself…

One day that could be us.


	15. On the Shores of Success

**15.**

**ON THE SHORES OF SUCCESS**

Dusk has fallen and the sun has almost completely set by the time Luna, Reo and I pass through the large bamboo archway into Beachpalm Town. The town is fairly small and is set on a slight slope that leads down to the beach itself, where several families and children are playing in the low tide with their Pokémon. All of the houses and buildings in the town are constructed of bamboo like the entrance arch, including the Pokémon Center which sits in the middle of town, its roof painted red as usual.

We head to the Pokémon Center first, which unlike the one at Skyris Town does not have any sort of curfew. Luna and I each book a room for the night and head upstairs, both of us feeling exhausted after our two-day journey from Hope Lighthouse to Beachpalm Town. It would have been wearing enough without the interference of The Blue One earlier this morning…

I arrive in my room for the night and draw back the orange curtains to discover a truly magnificent view that looks out across the town and down towards the beach, with the sun setting over the horizon behind the vast ocean ahead. For a few moments I simply stand in the window and take in the majesty of the scene.

"That's quite a view you've got there."

The voice from behind me makes me jump, and I wheel around to see that Luna has followed me into the room and is staring out of the window as well, a faint smile on her face.

"Yeah…" is all I can think of to say in response.

"From what Mr. Victicious taught me, Erique Island, where the Gym you want to get to is located, is pretty much a dead straight line from here that way," Luna says, pointing straight ahead out of the window. I look in the direction she is pointing but am unable to find any trace of land anywhere in the ocean. It must be a fair distance away, then.

"It's far away, right?" I say to her. "That's why you need a Pokémon with Surf. There's no way anyone'd be able to swim that far by themselves."

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Luna says with a shrug of her shoulders. You get a lot of swimmers around these parts, and especially in the warm waters around Erique Island, I've heard. Most of them have Pokémon, too, so they might want to battle against you."

I frown. "How does that work? Cause if I were to send someone like Reo out against someone in the ocean, surely he'd just fall into the water and not be able to fight properly."

"I'm sure he would. That's why you need to use an extra dose of strategy when you're battling at sea," Luna says. "If you've got a Water Pokémon to use, then that's fine, but obviously you can't use anything you're using to Surf on. Otherwise, the next best choice is something that can fly or hover, 'cause they won't be impeded too much."

"He taught you well, didn't he? Mr. Victicious?" I say with a smile at Luna.

Luna smiles back at me. "Yeah, he did. I've learned so much from him…" The dreamy tone is back in her voice, and it unnerves me slightly. Both of us are distracted by the loud ringing noise that sounds. The noise issues from my pocket and I extract my Xtransciever and look at the name of the person calling.

"I'd better get this," I say to Luna. "I'll see you in the morning."

"All right," she says with a nod and a smile. "Goodnight, Luke." With that, she turns and exits the room, closing the door behind her, and making her way to her own bedroom.

Once she is out of the room, I press the answer button on the device. The face that appears before me is the one I have been wanting to converse with all day. "Ben?" I say to him.

"Hello, Luke," Ben responds with a faint smile. His top hat is absent today and I can see the collar of his black leather coat in the image on the screen. He clearly is dressed as Ben today rather than as Ramon Victicious. "How are you?"

"All right, thanks," I say to him, sitting down on my bed for the night. "Glad to have finally made it to Beachpalm Town, though."

"Yes, I thought I sensed that you had reached there," Ben says, his powers as mysterious and potent as ever. "How are you finding the atmosphere?"

"Um, it seems nice, I guess," I mumble. I can't help feeling that Ben is deliberately stalling me away from the question I want to ask him.

"And Luna? Is she behaving herself?"

"Yeah, she's doing fine," I reply, glancing up subconsciously at the door through which she walked a moment ago.

"Glad to hear it," Ben says with a nod. "I apologise for not waiting to see you off yesterday morning, but I thought I'd save you the bother of my company. I never was very good at goodbyes, and I thought Luna would be able to explain the situation better than me, in any case."

"I'm surprised you let her travel with me," I say to him now. "I mean, she's clearly very fond of you, and you barely even know me. I'm surprised you trust me enough already to leave her with me."

"I know everything about you, Luke," Ben reminds me. "I've seen into your mind. I know I can trust Luna to you for a while."

"Well, you almost messed up," I admit, recalling the incident this morning. "I almost lost her."

A frown crosses Ben's face. "Yes… I thought I could sense that you were delayed somewhat. For some reason the vision of the incident is clouded in your mind. What exactly happened?"

"Some guy came in the middle of the night and took Luna prisoner just to get my attention. He wanted to battle me, and if I won, he'd let her free," I recount. "He was such a weird guy, too…"

Ben's frown grows yet darker. "Who was he, Luke? Did you get his name?"

"No, but I think he knows you," I say to him. "He mentioned you as he was leaving, he told me to send you his best regards."

"Who was he?" The question is much more insistent this time.

"He only referred to himself as The Blue One," I say, somewhat timidly.

Ben closes his eyes and exhales deeply, as if trying to calm himself. "Of course. I thought so…" he mutters to himself.

"So you do know him, then?" I ask, my curiosity sparked. "Who is he?"

"He is someone I hoped you would never have to meet," Ben replies, looking up at me again. "I know him very, very well, having battled against him numerous times in the past during my pursuits of Team SPF. His mind is lost to insanity, and that makes him extremely dangerous."

"What do you mean?" I ask him now.

"Blue is the scientist and inventor-in-chief for Team SPF. That RadarSnagger device you encountered back in Translucent Cave is just one of his diabolical creations." I don't need to ask how he knows about the incident in the cave. "And he has no qualms about performing experiments on innocent people and Pokémon, all for the aim of making Team SPF truly unstoppable."

"He experiments…on live people and Pokémon?" I repeat, sincerely unnerved. "What do you mean by experiments?"

"I can't say I've been unfortunate enough to witness anything firsthand, but the rumours I've heard and the little psychic intelligence I've managed to gather is…chilling, to say the least."

"How come you haven't been able to find out firsthand, if you know him so well? Surely you could just read his mind like you read mine?"

"He has adapted himself to resist my psychic powers," Ben says, and his tone of voice betrays the fact that he is deeply irritated that this is possible. "I don't know how, but I cannot see into his mind, nor can I sense his presence, hence why I was unable to detect exactly why you were detained this morning."

"And because you couldn't detect it, you assumed it must be him," I say to myself with a nod of understanding.

"Luke, may I…make a request of you?"

I turn back to the screen, surprised. Ben's face is inscrutable as ever. "Sure, what is it?" I ask.

"Defeating Blue is…a task that I would prefer to accomplish on my own. If the opportunity arises, if ever you have the choice… Please leave him for me. Is that acceptable?"

"Uh, I guess so…" I murmur, surprised at the determination in Ben's voice. "Why, though?"

"I have my reasons."

I let out a half-grunt, half-sigh. "That's your answer for everything…" I mutter.

Ben's face breaks into a warm smile, and his inner humanity comes through once more. "I know," he says simply. "But I told you in Hope Lighthouse: you really shouldn't be this interested in my personal life and my reasoning for everything."

"It's a bit late for that," I mutter.

"Maybe so. And speaking of late, shouldn't you be getting to bed? You have a lot to accomplish tomorrow. You must catch yourself a Water Pokémon and find the Hidden Machine for Surf if you are to travel to Erique Island and battle Ariel for a Tide Badge."

"I know what my plan of action is for tomorrow, Ben," I remind him, the faintest trace of annoyance creeping into my voice. "I don't need you to go over it again with me."

"My apologies," Ben says with a courteous nod. "In that case, I shall leave you to your sleep. Goodnight, Luke." The screen goes blank. I replace the Xtransciever on my bedside table and turn to Reo.

"So then, Reo, where do you suppose we should start?" I ask him.

"What do you mean?" Reo asks in return.

"I need a Water Pokémon and a HM for Surf if I'm going to get to Erique Island," I say to him. "Where can I get those from?"

Reo yawns widely, clearly tired. "Well, Luna suggested that the TM shop here might have Hidden Machines for sale. As for catching a Water Pokémon…we're on a beach. Surely there must be some Water Pokémon native to this area."

"OK, that's our plan then," I say with a nod, and begin to change into my pyjamas.

"So you don't like Ben going over it with you, but you're happy to do so with me?" Reo muses out loud, the faintest trace of a smile forming at his mouth.

"Well, you're my partner," I say with a shrug. "He just butts in every now and then and reads my mind to see what I'm doing. At least with you it's more of a two-way conversation."

Reo laughs and curls up in the corner of the room, before yawning again sleepily. "I'm honoured."

I climb into bed and reach across to the bedside table to shut off the light. "Goodnight, Reo."

"Goodnight, Luke."

The next morning, I find Luna waiting for me in the cafeteria at the Pokémon Center. I explain my plan of action to her as we eat breakfast, and she agrees to come with me to the TM shop and stick around for a while, which makes me very happy. After we finish eating we exit the Center and walk over to the TM shop, which sits just off the actual beach and seems more akin to a market stall, with a single shelf containing an array of colourful CDs and a canopy overhead to protect the stall from the sun.

"Hi," I say to the stallholder as we approach.

"Ahoy, mates!" is the response. The stallholder is big and muscular, with a large black beard and moustache and scraggy black hair. He smiles at us in a friendly way. "Welcome to Cap'n Jude's TM Stall! You won't find a larger selection of Technical Machines for sale anywhere in Silvari, guaranteed! Now, what can I do for you, laddie?"

"Actually, it's a Hidden Machine I came to ask you about," I say to the stallholder, who raises his eyebrows in slight surprise. "You see, we want to cross the ocean to get to Erique Island, and we need the HM for Surf to be able to do that."

"Hmm…" the stallholder replies, rubbing his beard thoughtfully. "Can't say I usually sell Hidden Machines here."

"Oh…" I say in disappointment. "OK then." I make to turn and walk away.

"Mind you…" the stallholder continues, and I turn back to look at him hopefully. "I suppose I could let you borrow my HM for Surf for a while, if…"

"If what?"

"If you'll have a Pokémon battle with me," the stallholder finishes with a grin.

A grin spreads across my face, too. "A battle?" I repeat in excitement. "You're on."

The stallholder guffaws in a genial manner. "Excellent. Come on then, laddie, let's go down to the beach where we have more room."

I follow the stallholder down to a spot on the beach, which is fairly empty at the moment as it is still early in the morning. We stand opposite each other, facing each other determinedly.

"One Pokémon each!" the stallholder calls to me. "No switching! If you beat me, I'll be happy to let you borrow my HM for Surf."

"Deal," I confirm with a nod, and wait to see who he chooses as his Pokémon.

"Good luck, Luke," Luna calls encouragingly from behind me, strengthening my resolve yet more.

With an almighty cry, the stallholder flings his Poké Ball into the air and lets it fall to the ground, where it bursts open to reveal a Pokémon that looks a little like a seagull, with white wings that each have a blue stripe along them, hovering gracefully as though surfing on currents in the air.

"Wow, what's that?" I wonder to myself, extracting my Pokédex.

"Wingull. The Seagull Pokémon. It rides updrafts rising from the sea by extending its long and narrow wings to glide."

"A Flying Pokémon, eh?" I call out, removing my own Poké Ball from my belt. "In that case, let's make this an aerial battle. Go, Staravia!" I throw the ball down onto the sand and release my bird Pokémon, who soars upward and faces off against her opponent confidently.

"Star!" she cries out.

"OK Staravia, get things started with your Double Team!" I call out, and Staravia begins to fly around rapidly, creating the wall of illusory copies.

A grin passes over the stallholder's face. "That won't help you! Wingull, Aerial Ace attack!" Wingull pulls its wings in close to its body and begins to swoop towards the flying Staravia, and just like in my battle with Vance, the attack makes direct contact with the real thing, sending Staravia reeling backwards in shock.

"Staravia, strike back with a Quick Attack!" I call, and Staravia flies a little higher in the sky before preparing to dive down at Wingull.

"Wingull, Protect yourself!" the stallholder cries, and Wingull throws up a protective barrier just as Staravia swoops down. My bird Pokémon collides with the barrier and leaves Wingull visibly unharmed.

"Good work! Now, hit it with Supersonic!"

Wingull opens its beak and releases a screechy sound wave towards Staravia, who is sent spinning backwards through the air, confused.

"Now, use your Scald attack!" Again, Wingull opens its beak, this time sending a jet of steaming water at Staravia. It contacts again and Staravia crashes down to the ground. She gets feebly back up to her feet, but I notice a nasty burn mark on her chest from where the boiling water contacted it.

"Staravia…" I say through gritted teeth. "Come on, we can still win this! Use Endeavor!" Staravia tries to take off again, but the lingering confusion from Supersonic takes its toll, and instead of the usual bright flash of light, she simply soars back down and crashes into the sand headfirst, still breathing feebly, but clearly unable to continue.

"We lost…" I say dejectedly. I pull Staravia's Poké Ball out once more and hold it up. "Bad luck, Staravia. Come back and get some rest," I say, recalling my defeated Pokémon.

Across from me, the stallholder has recalled his Wingull and looks up at me, his hands on his hips. "Well then, laddie, it looks like I'm the winner."

"You are," I say with a nod, accepting my defeat. "I guess I was a little too cocky. Your Pokémon knows some really good moves."

"That's the benefits of being a TM stallholder," he explains to me. "Using TMs is a great way of teaching your Pokémon some more varied moves that can really catch your opponent off guard in battles."

"Yeah, you sure showed me that," I say with a nod. "I might come back some time to buy some TMs of my own, but right now I should try and find somewhere else I can get the Surf HM from."

"Yeah, about that…" The stallholder reaches into his pocket and extracts a blue CD, which he offers to me. "Here, take this."

"Huh?" I say, confused. "But I lost the match. You said you'd give it to me if I won."

"I did, but the way I see it, you only want to borrow it for a while," the stallholder says with a shrug. "I can see you're one to be trusted to bring it back to me once you're done. And besides, you gave me a really enjoyable battle. I'm satisfied with that. So go on, take it." I hold out my hand gratefully and allow him to pass me the disc containing the move Surf.

"Thank you," I say, my voice filled with gratitude. "I'll bring it back as soon as I'm done, but first I need to catch a Water Pokémon to teach it to."

"Take as long as you need," the stallholder says, waving his hand genially. "I'll be at the stall. I'll see you around sometime." He walks off and I wave at him, before beholding the HM in my hands with some pride.

"That was really good, Luke," Luna says from behind me. I look up and she crosses over to behold the HM as well. "Even though you lost the match, you put up a really good fight."

"Yeah, I guess…" I say humbly. "Now I just need a Water Pokémon to teach this to. Say, Reo…" I look around, but Reo seems to have vanished. "Reo?" I call out, louder this time.

"Look, there he is," Luna says, pointing over to the edge of the shore, where Reo is standing in the low tide, looking like he is talking to something or someone. Luna and I cross over to him, and he turns to face us.

"Ah, Luke, excellent timing. I see you won the HM for Surf?" Reo asks, indicating the disc in my hand.

"Yeah," I say, glancing at it for a moment, before looking up at the creature standing beside Reo. It is light blue in colour and about two and a half feet tall, with long, rabbit-like ears and a spiky black tail with a blue ball on the end.

Reo follows my gaze and smiles. "This is Azumarill," he explains. "He and I were having a little chat while you were battling with Captain Jude. Azumarill says he'd be happy to take us across the sea and to Erique Island."

"Really?" I say in surprise, looking at Azumarill. "That's great news!"

"Azu…" Azumarill says in a squeaky voice, nodding somewhat shyly.

"However, there is one small condition," Reo explains.

"What's that?" I ask him.

"Azumarill's last Trainer abandoned him here. If Azumarill is going to help us out, he needs to see firsthand that you can be trusted, Luke. He wants you to battle and capture him as if he were simply a wild Pokémon that you had encountered. If you can make him your own, he will, of course, assist us."

"All right," I say with a grin, nodding confidently. "You're on, Azumarill."

"Azu! Azu!" Azumarill cries, jumping up and down in excitement.

"Oh yes, I forgot, there is one more thing…" Reo says. "This will be a different battle to normal. In order for Azumarill to know you can be trusted, Luke, he wants you to battle without giving any orders. He wants you to put your trust in one of your Pokémon and let them battle by themselves."

"Well, I guess that should be all right," I say with a shrug. "I want Azumarill to feel comfortable with us if he's going to join our team, so I'll accept his challenge. Reo, will you battle Azumarill for me?"

"Of course," Reo says with a grin, turning to face Azumarill. "Azumarill, I will be your opponent, is that all right?"

"Azu!" Azumarill calls, its expression growing more serious as it faces off against Reo. I take the opportunity to extract my Pokédex and get its data recorded for Professor Oak.

"Azumarill. The Aqua Rabbit Pokémon. The evolved form of Marill. Its long ears are superb sensors. It can distinguish the movements of living things on riverbeds."

"I'll act as referee," Luna says, moving over to stand next to the two Pokémon. "Luke, if you interfere in this battle, you're disqualified, all right?"

"OK," I say with a nod. "Whenever you're ready then, Reo."

Reo watches for a moment, then with a grunting cry runs across to strike Azumarill with a Metal Claw attack. Just before he hits, Azumarill curls up into a ball and absorbs most of the damage. It then proceeds to roll right over Reo, knocking him down to the floor. Azumarill rolls away, then turns and makes to come back for a second hit.

This time, Reo is ready. As Azumarill nears him, he stretches out his right palm and strikes Azumarill with a Force Palm attack, sending it flying backwards. The acrobatic Pokémon lands on its feet, though, and immediately sends a flurry of bubbles to attack Reo. Reo wraps his arms around himself to endure the attack, and after a moment, Azumarill grows tired and stops for breath.

Seizing his chance, Reo quickly whips his arms around to the side and gather his energy, before firing an Aura Sphere at Azumarill. Azumarill tries to defend against it, but the force of the attack is too powerful, and it is sent flying backwards again, coming to rest at my feet.

I realise that Azumarill has been sufficiently weakened, and take my opportunity. "Poké Ball, go!" I call, retrieving a vacant Poké Ball from my backpack and dropping it onto Azumarill. Azumarill is pulled inside the ball, which shakes for a few seconds and then becomes still.

"Yeah! We got it!" I cry with delight, punching the air. "Now we have a Water Pokémon on our team!"

Reo walks over to me and I hug him gratefully. "You were awesome, Reo. I knew I could rely on you."

"I know," Reo says simply in response.

After a quick trip to the Pokémon Center to heal Azumarill and Staravia, I attach the HM for Surf to Azumarill and watch as he absorbs the move and learns how to use it. I tell Luna to head back to the beach and wait for me while I make a short detour to return the HM to the stallholder.

"Ah, you're back already?" he says when I approach him. "Catch yourself a Water Pokémon then, laddie?"

"I sure did," I say with a smile. "Here's your Hidden Machine back, sir."

"Oh, don't you get calling me sir, laddie! I'm Cap'n Jude! Cap'n'll do just fine," the stallholder says as he accepts the disc from me and replaces it in his pocket.

"OK then, Captain…" I look around me surreptitiously to check that no one is around to overhear me. Only Reo is nearby. I lean a little closer to him. "Now that I'm back here, would you mind showing me what kinds of TMs you sell here?"

A short while later, I return to the beach to meet Luna, smiling in a satisfied way.

"What kept you, Luke?" Luna asks when I reach her. "And what are you looking so pleased with yourself about?"

"Nothing," I respond innocently. I turn to face the ocean. "So, Erique Island is that way, huh?"

"That's right. If you Surf in a straight line from here, you should get there eventually."

I look at her in surprise. "Aren't you gonna come with me?" I ask her, hoping my disappointment doesn't permeate into my voice.

"Your Azumarill isn't big enough to carry both of us, and I don't think my Ducklett would be able to carry me even if I had taught it Surf. I think I'll go back and challenge the Gyms on this half of Silvari, and then catch up to you later someday."

"Good for you," I say to her with a smile. "Well, I guess this is goodbye for now then, Luna."

"Wait Luke!" I turn back to face her inquisitively again. "There's one more thing we need to do before we go our separate ways."

"And what's that?" I ask her with slight trepidation. A mischievous grin spreads across Luna's face.

"I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"


	16. Crossing the Wide, Wide Ocean

**16.**

**CROSSING THE WIDE, WIDE OCEAN**

Luna and I stand facing one another, some distance apart on the beach, staring determinedly into each other's eyes, our respective battle stances adopted.

I reach for one of the Poké Balls at my belt. "You're on," I say, accepting her challenge. "And since you're thinking of challenging the Gyms now, let's make this a mock Gym battle. Three on three with no switching?"

"Sounds good to me," Luna replies, her mischievous smile returning. "Of course, you might regret that after I beat you in two straight rounds."

I scowl at her. "We'll see about that. Choose your first Pokémon."

Luna looks down at the three Poké Balls at her own waist for a moment, before detaching the centre one. She holds it up and we both lock eyes once more, before simultaneously hurling our Poké Balls down onto the sand.

"Swadloon, go!" I call.

"Come on out, Kirlia!" Luna cries.

Our Pokémon emerge together and stand opposite each other just in front of their Trainers. Luna's dainty grey and green Pokémon stands before her, facing my large yellow ball of a Pokémon wrapped in its leafy coat. I grin to myself. Bug beats Psychic. I should have an advantage here.

"OK Swadloon, let's get going!" I call out, gesturing forward. "Razor Leaf attack!"

Swadloon ruffles his coat and opens it after a moment, sending a flurry of leaves towards Kirlia, who dances daintily out of the way of several, before several more make contact with her, making her shudder momentarily.

"Kirlia, send it right back! Magical Leaf attack!" Luna commands, and her Kirlia raises its arms above its head as its red horns begin to glow. The leaves on the beach around Kirlia glow as well, before Kirlia fires them back at Swadloon. The leaves make contact but cause minimal damage.

"Enough messing around, Swadloon. Bug Buzz attack, now!" I order. Swadloon ruffles his leafy coat once more before opening it wide and filling the air with a loud buzzing noise.

"Kirlia, block it with Light Screen!" Kirlia's horns glow once more as it throws up an invisible wall around itself, which flashes brightly as it absorbs the attack. The buzzing dies down and Kirlia looks over at Swadloon in a somewhat smug manner.

"Good one! Now, hit it with a Confusion!" Once more, Kirlia's horns glow bright white and Swadloon, who is unable to even attempt to dodge due to his large size, is lifted up into the air and slammed down hard onto the beach below, where he struggles to regain his feet.

"Once more should do it, Kirlia!" Luna cries, and her Pokémon obediently launches another Confusion attack, sending Swadloon skyward and dropping it down once more. This time, my large Bug Pokémon does not make any sort of recovery.

"Aw, dang it," I say in disappointment. I reluctantly unclip Swadloon's Poké Ball once more and call him back. I look up at Luna, who is recalling her Kirlia with a satisfied grin on her face. "Nice going, Luna."

"Not bad, am I?" Luna says with a wink. "I was trained by the great Ramon Victicious, after all. There's no way I'd lose when I've got a Psychic-type at my command with his training!"

"He sure does love his Psychic Pokémon, doesn't he?" I mutter to myself. "Have you ever battled against him?"

"I tried, once," Luna says somewhat sheepishly. "He flattened me. It took about ten seconds."

"I know the feeling," I say quietly. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Reo glance over at me for a moment, before looking away.

"Come on then, Luke," Luna says, her tone becoming more businesslike all of a sudden. "I'm one round up on you. Choose your second round Pokémon."

My hand is at my belt after a short moment's consideration. "Already on it," I confirm. "Let's see how our latest ally battles. Go, Azumarill!" I toss the ball down onto the sand and it opens to reveal my new Water Pokémon, the freshest member of my team, caught less than an hour ago.

"Hmm…" Luna ponders for a moment. "Let's match Water on Water, shall we? Go, Ducklett!" Luna sends her Poké Ball into battle as well, much more gracefully than me, I can't help noticing. Out of it comes her mischievous little duck Pokémon, Ducklett, also the latest addition to her party, I realise.

All right, I think to myself. Ducklett's a bird, but I've got a secret weapon that should give me an advantage here.

"Ducklett, use your Water Gun!" Luna calls. Ducklett opens its mouth and sprays a forceful jet of water straight into Azumarill's face, but being a fellow Water-type, my Aqua Rabbit shrugs off the move easily. Despite my concentration, I can't help laughing at this.

"You can't fight a Water Pokémon with a Water move, Luna. That's not gonna work!" I call over to her.

"I'm just getting warmed up!" Luna calls back in response. "Ducklett, try a Wing Attack!" Ducklett takes flight and begins to fly towards Azumarill, but I am ready with a strategy of my own.

"Azumarill, bring it down with a BubbleBeam!" I command, and Azumarill opens his mouth and sends forth a spray of bubbles to contact with Ducklett, bringing it down to the ground. "Do it again, slow it right down!" I encourage, and Azumarill obediently blasts Ducklett with another spray of bubbles.

"He fights obediently considering you only just caught him," Reo notes from beside me. "He obviously realises that you are a Trainer worthy of trust."

"Ducklett, fight through the pain!" Luna is instructing now. "Hit it with a Wing Attack from there!"

"Defense Curl, Azumarill! Block it!" I call, ready for the attack. Azumarill curls up into a ball as Ducklett's wing contacts it, and the move causes minimal damage to my Water Pokémon. "All right, now for our secret weapon! Rollout attack, Azumarill! Roll right over that Ducklett!"

As instructed, Azumarill remains in its ball shape and rolls straight over Ducklett, who is momentarily flattened but soon gets back to its feet, though it looks ruffled. Azumarill wheels around and hurtles back towards Ducklett, barrelling over it and squashing it again. Ducklett struggles to get back to its feet, but the incoming Azumarill denies it the chance, and after the third Rollout hit it is clear that Ducklett cannot continue.

"That's enough, Azumarill! You won it!" I say proudly, and Azumarill stops rolling and unfurls, looking a trifle dizzy. I recall him as Luna calls back her defeated Ducklett from opposite me.

"So, we're drawn at one win apiece," I tell her. "That means it all comes down to this last round."

"You know, this isn't really very fair," Luna complains. "I only have three Pokémon, whereas you have five. You have more choice than me. You know exactly who I'm gonna pick, and you can work your strategy around that."

"Well, that's something you need to think about if you want to challenge the Gym Leaders," I say with a shrug. "It kinda sucks to get down to your last Pokémon and realise they're at a major disadvantage."

"I guess so…" Luna admits. She pulls her final Poké Ball from her belt and gazes at it, before a smile creeps onto her face. "But in saying that, I've got nothing to worry about. I've got one hundred per cent confidence in my last one. She's been my longest friend, and I'm sure she'll come through here."

Luna daintily tosses her Poké Ball down onto the sand and releases her Jigglypuff, whose big eyes light up as a mischievous grin crosses her face which perfectly mirrors the one Luna wears so beautifully.

"Jiggly!" the round balloon Pokémon squeaks.

I turn to my partner. "All right Reo, you're up for this one." Reo nods and makes to step forward, but I hold him back. "Hang on. First, you should take this," I mutter in an undertone as I slip a small brown berry with a pointed blue tip into his paw. "You'll probably need it," I add with a wink.

A smile crosses Reo's face. "I won't argue with that." He straightens up once more and moves in front of me to face off against Jigglypuff.

I turn to Luna. "Reo will be my final round Pokémon. Partner versus partner. Can't say fairer than that."

"Oh, sure," Luna says sarcastically. "Fighting versus Normal. As fair as fair can be."

I pause for a moment, then get down to business. "Right then. Reo, let's end this quickly. Start things off with a Force Palm!"

Reo claps his paws together and darts across towards Jigglypuff. As he nears her, he stretches out his right paw and brings it forward to strike her right in her middle. Jigglypuff is sent flying backwards a fair distance thanks to its light weight, but it hovers forward again, damaged but still ready for more.

"Jigglypuff, use our super switcharound strategy! Mimic, then hit it back with your own Force Palm!" Jigglypuff's eyes grow marginally wider as she surfs the air currents back towards Reo, and when she reaches him, she strikes with her own arm and connects with the top of Reo's head.

Reo lets out a cry of pain and crouches down to the floor, covering his skull. "Reo!" I cry in surprise. "Are you all right?"

"Reo is part Steel-type too, you know, Luke. That makes him weak to Fighting attacks," Luna reminds me.

Oh yeah, I think to myself. I always forget that part.

"Jigglypuff, do it again!"

A second Force Palm strike from Jigglypuff connects this time with Reo's chest, just below his neck, and sends him staggering backwards from the impact, looking distinctly shaken.

"Your Pokémon looks worn out," Luna calls, a devilish grin on her face. "He could do with a nap. Jigglypuff, use your Sing attack!"

Jigglypuff's eyes glow brightly and I cover my ears, remembering what happened last time. I barely hear the sound of Jigglypuff's song, but Reo is exposed to the full force of it, and he staggers backwards once more.

"Reo, don't give in! Eat the berry I gave you!" I call out over the song. Reo raises the berry to his mouth, his eyes growing heavy, and takes a bite out of it. Immediately, he returns to full alertness, his eyes snap open, and he jumps backwards and adopts his battle stance once more.

Jigglypuff's eyes stop glowing and she looks on, surprised and perturbed. Luna's expression mirrors her Pokémon's, and I uncover my ears as she calls over to me in an affronted manner.

"Hey! What kind of cheap trick was that?"

"Eating a berry in a match isn't a cheap trick," I argue, shaking my head and smiling. "Reo's Chesto Berry just woke him up from Jigglypuff's lullaby."

"Well, now that you've used it up, it's all gone!" Luna calls, a look of wild determination – or is it desperation? – on her face. "Jigglypuff, Sing again…"

"Reo, don't let her get to you! Finish her off with an Aura Sphere!" I command. As Jigglypuff's eyes begin to glow, Reo gathers his energy and fires the ball of pure force at Jigglypuff. It connects with Luna's Pokémon, sending her skyward, where she floats back to the ground, her eyes closed, clearly defeated.

"Oh, no!" Luna cries. "Jigglypuff!" She catches her Pokémon as it floats down beside her, and Jigglypuff manages to open one weary eye.

"Jiggly…" she croaks feebly.

"Hey, is Jigglypuff all right?" I ask, moving over to stand next to Luna and beholding her Pokémon with some concern. "I didn't mean for her to get injured so badly, I was just trying to win the match."

"And win you did, Luke. You beat me 2-1, and that makes you the winner," Luna says with some effort, as if she is on the verge of tears. I put my arm around her shoulders in a consoling manner. At first my own boldness surprises me, but after a moment I realise that this is just instinct. My friend is upset – it's instinctive to want to comfort her.

"Come on, let's head to the Pokémon Center and get her restored, yeah?" I say to Luna, hoping I sound soothing and not patronising.

After restoring our Pokémon to full health and sitting down to have something to eat, Luna seems to return to good spirits. She takes a sip of her drink and smiles at me.

"So, I guess I need some more training before I actually take on a Gym Leader, huh?" she asks. "I mean, if I can't even beat you in a friendly match, I dunno how I'd fare against a Gym Leader who'll pull out all the stops."

"I'm sure you'll get on just fine," I tell her encouragingly. "Like you said, I had the added benefit of knowing you, and knowing which Pokémon you were going to use and the strategies you might use with them. The Gym Leaders don't have that. They'll be fighting blind."

"I guess… All right, from now on then, we're rivals, you got that Luke? I'm gonna get extra lessons from Mr. Victicious and earn all the Gym Badges I can, and the next time we battle, I'm not gonna lose!"

I smile at her, and she smiles back. Rivals? I can accept that. It seems like progress, at least…

A short while later, once we have finished our food, Luna and I step out of the Pokémon Center into the beautiful afternoon sun. I gaze out at the sea for a moment, looking blue and calm beneath the cloudless sky.

"So, you're heading for Erique Island now then?" Luna asks from beside me.

"Uh-huh," I confirm. "I'm gonna challenge Ariel and hopefully earn my fourth Gym Badge."

"And while you do that, I think I'll head back to Skyris Town and see if I can battle Gym Leader Vance to try and earn a Cloud Badge," Luna says, nodding to herself. "It's the closest Gym, so I might as well start there."

"I'm sure you'll do great," I say to her. A sudden thought enters my head. "Hey, Luna… Do you… I mean, could I…have your Xtransciever number? I mean, if we're gonna be rivals now…that is… I just thought maybe you could call me whenever you earn some Badges and we could update each other on our progress," I ramble, feeling my face grow slightly warmer, which I'm sure is nothing to do with the sun.

Luna giggles. "Of course you can," she agrees, and holds out her hand for my device, which I hand to her. She keys her number in and hands the Xtransciever back to me, and I glance down at the screen and see Luna's name joining mom, Elliot, Ben and Vance on my contacts list. "Let's have a competition to see who can earn the most Badges in the shortest amount of time! That sound good to you?"

"Sure, whatever," I mumble, my concentration elsewhere and my gaze still focused on my contacts list.

"Then I guess this is goodbye for now, Luke," Luna says, and she spreads out her arms and hugs me. The gesture takes me by surprise, and by the time I have registered the fact and attempted to hug her back, she has released me and taken a couple of steps away, brushing a strand of her lavender hair off her face. She waves at me and I wave back, and she turns to walk away towards her next destination. I watch her go until, all too soon, she is out of sight.

From beside me, Reo whistles, and I elbow him in the arm, which makes him chuckle. "So, are we setting out now then, Luke?" he asks me.

"Yup," I confirm with a nod. We walk down to the beach together and stop at the shore, my eyes trained straight ahead at the location of Erique Island, if Luna is to be believed. Still no trace of it can be seen, reinforcing once again that it must be a long way off…

"Right then, Reo, you'd better come back in your Poké Ball for a while," I say, looking reluctantly at my partner. "Sorry, but I don't think Azumarill will be strong enough to carry both of us. I'll let you out again as soon as we get to Erique Island, all right?"

Reo chuckles again. "You don't need to apologise to me, Luke. It's fine, I understand. I wouldn't want to stay out in this sun too long anyway and risk getting sunburnt, now would I?"

I laugh too and hug him briefly. "Thanks for sticking by me so far, Reo. Without you, I would never have accomplished any of the things I've done on my – on our journey so far."

"And I could say the same of you, Luke. Thank you," Reo says with a smile. I look at him for a moment longer before grudgingly removing his seldom-used Poké Ball from my belt and recalling him. I reattach Reo to my belt and unclip a different Poké Ball, which I drop to the ground, releasing my Water Pokémon.

"Azu! Azu!" Azumarill cries happily.

"OK Azumarill, time to get Surfing," I tell him, and he grins happily before diving into the ocean headfirst. I cross over to him and climb somewhat awkwardly onto his back, hold on tightly to his ears and brace myself. "Let's go, then! To Erique Island!"

Azumarill begins to swim, surprisingly strongly considering he has an extra weight to deal with. At first I feel somewhat awkward and uncomfortable, kneeling on my Pokémon's back and trying desperately to balance myself. But actually, once I have gotten used to the sensation, the experience itself is pretty exhilarating, the wind blowing past my face and the cool water lapping at my jeans, the occasional wild Pokémon flying overhead or passing by in the water.

We have been Surfing for at least an hour when something comes into view on the horizon. It is an island, that much I can tell, but the large metal structure upon it does not look like what I expected a little island community to look like. It reminds me forcibly of Skyris Town: tall and rectangular, and clearly split into several different levels, although these are all indoors rather than outdoors.

We reach the shore on a small beach in front of this building and I dismount from Azumarill and take a look around. There is a small Pokémon Center off to the left, and directly ahead is the entrance to the tower-like structure. Two burly men in dark suits and dark glasses, who must be incredibly hot under the burning sun, guard the entrance. I cross over to them, wondering where I am.

"Hi," I say with some trepidation to the man on the left. "Is this Erique Island?"

The man lets out a guffaw. "Erique Island? Of course not. This is the Pokémon League, kid."

My mouth drops open before I can stop it. "The Pokémon League?! Really?"

"Of course. This is the heart of Silvari, where the Elite Four and Champion take on any challengers who have earned the right to face them by earning eight Badges from the eight Gyms around the region."

"Yeah, I know all that bit," I explain. "I'm collecting the Badges myself, that's why I'm trying to get to Erique Island: so I can challenge Ariel for a Tide Badge."

"Well, you must have drifted off course a bit if you ended up here by mistake," the guard says. "It's no huge surprise. The tides around here are stronger than most, and they all seem to point in this direction. Although in saying that, it's been months since we last had a traveller wash up here by mistake. You sure your Water Pokémon is tough enough for the journey across the ocean, kid?"

I scowl at the guard. "Yes, I'm sure. Can you tell me in which direction Erique Island is, please?"

The guard points a thick finger straight ahead of him. "That way. Surf due east from here and you should get there in a couple hours or so. You'll be Surfing against the tide though, so if your Water Pokémon isn't up for the trip, you'll just end up right back here," he adds with another guffaw.

"Oh I'll be back, all right," I tell him in a determined voice. "But not until I have all eight Gym Badges. I'll defeat the Elite Four and take out Arko, and become the new Champion, just you watch me! Just you watch…"

With that, I turn on my heel and return to the shore, where Azumarill waits for me, lapping up the ocean's salt water as though it is a delicious beverage. "Come on, Azumarill," I say to him, still determined. "We'll show these guys how good we are."

"Azu!" Azumarill cries, nodding in agreement. I jump back onto his back and he sets off again, swimming against the tide, and although his pace is slower than before, I can tell his determination is equal, if not more.

As we Surf onward, I turn away and look back towards the large tower of the Pokémon League. There's no doubt about it, I think to myself. I will be there again someday. I will defeat Arko, and I will become the new League Champion, and nothing is going to stop me from doing so.

"Azu! Azu!"

Azumarill's cries catch my attention, and I look forward once more, where on the horizon I can see the faint outline of what looks like a small island, with several small buildings and palm trees and what looks like a larger building off to the far side.

"That must be Erique Island…" I think to myself. "We're almost there, Azumarill. We're almost halfway to becoming the new League Champions…"


	17. The Mermaid of Erique Island

**17.**

**THE MERMAID OF ERIQUE ISLAND**

Azumarill and I finally wash up on the golden beach that forms the shore of Erique Island just after four in the afternoon, according to my watch. Although it is reasonably late in the day, it is still intensely hot, and many of the residents I see wandering around sport perfectly tanned skin, which is displayed on plain view as many of them wear nothing but swim shorts or bikinis. I begin to feel oddly overdressed in my jacket and jeans.

I turn gratefully to my Water Pokémon, who looks exhausted from the long Surf. "You were fantastic, Azumarill," I tell him, my voice full of pride. "Thanks for helping us out."

"Azu!" Azumarill chirps cheerfully, though his voice confirms that he is indeed as tired as he looks. I retrieve his Poké Ball from my belt.

"Come on in and get some rest, Azumarill," I say as I recall him. I reattach his Poké Ball to my belt and detach another, which I open to release Reo back into the open air once more. He stretches widely and sighs in a satisfied way.

"Ah, it feels so good to be back out in the sunlight," he sighs. He looks over to me and smiles. "Am I to gather by my release that we have at last reached Erique Island?"

I grin at him. "Take a look around, and see for yourself," I respond, gesturing at the surroundings. The beach on which we stand is littered with palm trees that provide welcome rest from the burning sun, and a little higher up where the sand gives way to sandy stone, several houses are built, constructed of bamboo like the ones in Beachpalm Town. The island itself seems fairly small, and I imagine I would be able to see right across the far side and out to the ocean beyond were it not for the large Gym building that stands a way back, but directly in front of me.

I gesture towards it. "There's the Gym. Come on then, Reo, let's go."

"So, Luke, what strategy are you intending to employ against the Leader, Ariel?" Reo asks me as we walk over towards the Gym, looking across at me curiously.

"Hmm… Well, I know that Ariel uses Water Pokémon," I think out loud to myself. "I guess Swadloon will have the biggest advantage against her. Oh yeah, and Kirlia can use Magical Leaf, too, can't she? That's a Grass-type move, right?"

"It sounds like you're planning on winning this battle in two rounds as well, then, if you can," Reo says, a faint smile becoming etched upon his wise and trusting face.

"Well, I reckon I have the Pokémon and the strategy to do it," I say with a shrug. We have reached the Gym by now, which is built of dark brown wood, rather than bamboo, and has blue wavy lines running around the top portion of it. The roof appears to be made of glass, though I cannot see inside. I knock on the large, wooden doors.

"Enter," a female voice calls. It sounds high-pitched and girly, though it is difficult to truly discern, as it sounds somewhat muffled and metallic, as though coming through a speaker. The doors open and I step inside.

The interior of the Gym takes me by surprise. I enter into a room that is a lot smaller than I expected, and built of tiny blue tiles, with darker blue at the bottom and lighter blue at the top. Directly ahead of me is another set of doors, this time made of white plastic with a frosted glass window in the top half, and to either side of me are two more entrances with signs above them: male to my left, female to my right. I behold them with a slight frown. Restrooms, perhaps? Unusual thing to have in a Gym…

"Welcome to the Erique Pokémon Gym!" the metallic voice calls again, making me jump slightly. I look around for the source and behold an old-fashioned speaker set into the wall ahead of me, above the frosted glass doors. "You're just in time, Trainer. I close to challengers at half past four, usually. What's your name?"

"I'm Luke, and I'm here to challenge Ariel for a Tide Badge," I say determinedly.

"Nice to meet you, Luke," the voice calls back. "I'm the Gym Leader, Ariel."

"Uh, yeah. It'd be nice to meet you too, Ariel, I'm sure, wherever you are…" I mutter, looking down at the floor and feeling slightly embarrassed.

The voice on the speaker giggles. "I'm waiting for you ahead, in the Gym itself," Ariel's voice explains. "You're clearly not dressed to challenge me just yet, but that's OK. The changing rooms are to your left. Go ahead and get changed, and then you can come through and I'll be happy to introduce myself."

I look at the speaker, stumped. "Changed?" I repeat, clueless. "What do you mean by get changed?"

There is a pause. When Ariel's voice comes through the speaker again, it sounds slightly shocked. "You mean you…don't have any swimming attire to get changed into to battle me?"

"Uh, no…" I say, feeling idiotic again. "I didn't realise I'd need it…"

"This isn't just the Gym, you know, Luke. This is also our island community's swimming pool. All the Gym battles are staged right here in the pool," Ariel explains to me.

"Oh, right," I say. "I didn't know that."

"Well, now that you do, you'll want to go and buy yourself something more appropriate to wear, won't you?" Ariel asks sweetly. "But I'm afraid you'll have to come back tomorrow to challenge me. As I said, I close to challengers at half four so that the islanders can use the pool, and I won't be accepting any more challengers until noon tomorrow."

"Ugh," I say in disappointment. "OK then. I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow then, Ariel." I turn around and trudge back out of the Gym's main entrance, feeling slightly dejected.

"Cheer up, Luke," Reo says brightly. "You've got a whole extra day now to perfect your tactics and get in some more training."

"But I was so amped up to fight Ariel today," I say tonelessly. "Accidentally winding up at the Pokémon League made me realise just how much I want to win these Badges to be there again someday, battling to become Champion."

"Well, look on the bright side," Reo says reasonably. "At least you do get to challenge Ariel pretty soon. And hey, it could be worse. We're stuck on a paradise island for a day – there's not too much to complain about from where I'm standing."

I look around me at the scenery: the palm trees, the bamboo houses, the white sand on the beaches. I realise that Reo is right: there are far worse places to be stranded.

"I guess so," I say, managing a smile. "Come on, let's take a look around. One of these huts must sell swimming gear. I'll need to buy some to wear for when I take on Ariel tomorrow."

Reo and I wander around the island for a while until eventually locating what looks like the market street, containing the island's Pokémon Center and a variety of stalls selling different things, including exotic fruit and fish, sunglasses and sun block, and finally, a small hut selling a variety of swim shorts and bikinis in all shapes, sizes and colours. I realise as I look around that they are all hideously overpriced, no doubt to capitalise on the foolish travelling Trainers who, like me, have ventured here without any and now need some to wear to challenge the Gym Leader.

I eventually select a pair of reasonably cheap, reasonably fashionable swim shorts, dark purple in colour and with a red stripe up either side. I head outside with my new purchase and realise that I might as well make the most of my time stuck here. I check into a room at the Pokémon Center for the night, head there to change into my new shorts, and head for the beach.

For the rest of the day Reo and I amuse ourselves by playing on the sand and in the warm, crystal clear waters that surround the island. We are so busy having fun that it takes me by surprise when a renegade Tentacool washes up and tries to sting us, though it is swiftly dealt with by Reo's Force Palm attack…but not before I have registered its details in the Pokédex for Professor Oak.

As night falls we retreat to our room in the Pokémon Center, where I am glad for a chance to switch on the fan. The cloudless sky and bright sun make for an almost unbearably hot day, and even the night air is warm and humid. I phone my mom quickly to update her on my progress and let her know that I am still safe and sound, before drifting into an easy, satisfied sleep.

The following morning I awaken early and decide to change straight into my new swim shorts, after a quick trip to the Center's laundry room to ensure they are clean and dry. Although it is still several hours before I can challenge Ariel, I remember that it is fairly common and considered acceptable among the islanders to walk around in swimwear, and I decide to make the most of the time I have left on the island.

Reo and I hit the beach once more in the morning, where we rent a couple of sun loungers and lie in the shade under one of the palm trees. I discuss strategy for battling Ariel with Reo, and we both agree that Swadloon's Grass-type, coupled with Kirlia's Magical Leaf attack should be able to get the job done, although Reo does agree to be my third and final Pokémon should it come to that. We then run through the various Water-type Pokémon she might use, and think about individual things to beware of for each one, so that by the time noon arrives I am confident that we have a foolproof battle plan for challenging this elusive Gym Leader.

We return to the Gym at about quarter to one, when we are sure that the last civilians will have vacated the pool and Ariel will be accepting challengers again. After knocking the door and being told to enter, I proceed into the antechamber of the Gym once more and await further instruction.

"Welcome back, Luke," calls Ariel's voice from the speaker. "Looks like you're dressed and ready for the occasion this time. Perfect! Come on through the doors in front of you, then. I'm looking forward to this!"

I head through the frosted glass doors, with Reo following close behind. We come into a much larger room, made of the same wood as the outer walls and with the glass ceiling high above. Most of the room is taken up by an enormous square swimming pool, with a Poké Ball tile mosaic design on the floor. The only areas that are not part of the pool are the small platform upon which I am standing, a thin strip around the edge and the usual large throne on the opposite side, underneath the Gym's emblem and the Pokémon League logo. The throne here is empty, and as my eyes travel downwards I notice someone in the pool beneath it, treading water to stay afloat.

"Hiya, Luke! Nice to meet you properly!" Ariel's voice calls. It issues from the person in the pool, and though she is far away, the Gym has been cleverly designed to carry the sound perfectly all the way across to me.

"Hi. You must be Ariel," I say with a nod and a smile.

"That's me," Ariel confirms. "I'm the Gym Leader here at the Erique Gym, and a flawless pro at using Water-type Pokémon."

"Well, we'll see how flawless you really are when I challenge you to a battle," I say with a grin. "I already know the Gym rules, there's no need to remind me."

"Well, that shortens my speech a little," Ariel says with a giggle. "But you probably don't know all of this Gym's rules, Luke. After all, you didn't know you'd need swimming gear in order to battle me. Aren't you wondering why that is?"

"Well, I'm guessing it's because we're gonna do battle in the pool somehow?" I offer.

"We are indeed. Our Pokémon shall join us in the water. This will be an aqua battle!"

"What?!" I cry, unpleasantly surprised. "You mean, they're not going to have anything to stand on?"

"Nope," Ariel confirms, shaking her head. "They'll be right here in the pool, where my Water Pokémon are most confident."

"Aw, man," I curse. "That totally wrecks my awesome strategy."

"A Trainer has to be able to adapt to unpredictable circumstances, Luke," Ariel tells me, her tone more businesslike now. "You made the challenge, and I've accepted. If you quit now, you'll use up your first attempt against me, which means if I win when next we battle, you can't battle me again for another year."

"I know, I know," I say, frustrated. "I just need a couple of seconds to think up a new strategy."

"You have exactly thirty of them then, Luke. If you're not ready to send out your first Pokémon by the time I get to zero, I'll declare this match over. Thirty. Twenty-nine…"

I think frantically as she counts. If I'm going to battle in the water… There must be some strategy I can use. I think back and recall what Luna said to me back in Beachpalm Town. Water Pokémon are good, as well as anything that can fly or hover. Well, I have two Pokémon I can use then, at least, although neither featured in my original battle plan…

"Five. Four. Three. Two. One." Ariel finishes counting and looks up at me. "Time's up. Are you ready, Luke?"

"Sure am," I say, removing my backpack and ensuring the two Poké Balls I need are within easy reach. I dive into the water and surface, treading water relatively easily. I had swimming lessons back at home and am fairly confident in the calmness of the pool. Whether I'll stay that way when battle breaks out is yet to be seen…"

Now that I am in the water, I can see Ariel much more closely and clearly. She is reasonably young, only about eighteen or nineteen by my reckoning, and fairly pale, as though she doesn't see much of the sun outside. Her hair is long and red and it frames her pretty face perfectly. She has on a purple bikini, and her three Poké Balls lie on the ledge behind her, at the foot of the throne. She smiles warmly at me when I enter the water.

"We're ready, then. At last! Choose your first Pokémon then, Luke."

I reach behind me for the Poké Ball on the left and toss it into the air. "I'm gonna kick off with Staravia!" I announce as my bird Pokémon is unleashed. Staravia hovers a few feet above the water, looking down menacingly at the Gym Leader below.

Ariel throws me a sulky glance. "That's not really in the spirit of the game, is it?" she asks me. "But never mind. I can deal with that quite easily." She selects a Poké Ball from behind her and throws it forward into the water. "Go, Seel!"

The ball opens to reveal a white Pokémon that does indeed look like a seal, with a somewhat dopey face and a small pointed horn on its head. "Seel! Seel!" it cries in a voice as dopey as its looks.

"Hey, Reo!" I call behind me. "Get my Pokédex out of my bag and scan that one, will you?" I hear the sound of rummaging and a moment later the Pokédex speaks in its mechanical voice:

"Seel. The Sea Lion Pokémon. Although it can walk well on land, it is a graceful swimmer. It especially loves being in frigid seas."

"It likes frigid seas, huh?" I repeat. "Bet it doesn't get many of those around a tropical island like this."

"Be careful, Luke!" Reo calls as he replaces my Pokédex. "That adaptation to cold environments means Seel may know some Ice-type moves that could wreak havoc against Staravia."

"I know about my type disadvantages, Reo!" I call irritably. "You don't need to tell Ariel what strategy to use!"

There is a pause. "Sorry, Luke," Reo says guiltily.

I look determinedly across at Ariel, who is grinning, clearly ready for the challenge. "OK then, Staravia, kick things off with a Quick Attack!" I order.

"Star!" My bird Pokémon gives a shrill cry before wrapping her wings in close around her and diving down towards Seel.

"Seel, Ice Shard!" Ariel commands, and quick as a flash, Seel scoops up a mouthful of water and blasts it back at Staravia, but the coldness of Seel's mouth has turned it into a chunk of ice, and the ice connects with the diving Staravia, sending her reeling, and undoubtedly causing heavy damage.

"Great! Now, fire off an Aurora Beam!" Ariel encourages. Seel opens its mouth again and lets loose a rainbow-coloured beam of energy which again contacts with Staravia and sends her spinning backwards through the air. She only just manages to regain her composure and flight pattern just before she hits the water and flies slightly higher, looking distinctly wounded.

"Seel, dive underwater!" Ariel orders, and Seel vanishes under the surface of the pool. Staravia watches the water uneasily from above. It must be preparing to attack from under the water, I think to myself.

"Staravia, use Double Team! Get ready to dodge when it comes up!" I call out. Staravia heeds the advice and utilises her remaining strength to fly back and forth rapidly, causing the air to become thick with illusions of Staravia.

A moment later, the water just in front of me ripples violently and Seel springs up from underneath, making contact with a couple of the Staravia illusions but not, to my relief, with the real thing.

"Quick, hit it with a Wing Attack!" I encourage, and before gravity can pull Seel back down, Staravia stops her rapid flying and swoops beside Seel, thwacking it with her right wing and sending Seel crashing back down to the water, where it smacks painfully into the surface of the pool.

"Now, finish it with a Quick Attack!" I call, and Staravia once again wraps her wings in close and dives down towards Seel. The impact of her beak on its underbelly pushes Seel down beneath the surface and it begins to sink, clearly defeated. "Yes! We won the first round! Well done, Staravia."

"Star, star!" Staravia cries triumphantly. I grab her Poké Ball from behind me and recall her.

"Well done, Luke. So far, so good," Reo tells me in an undertone as I replace Staravia's Poké Ball on the platform and take up my second battler's Ball.

"Thanks, Reo," I say with a smile before turning and swimming slightly closer to Ariel, who has recalled her Seel.

"So, you won the first round. The pressure's on me to get these next two, then!" Ariel announces, her voice still cheerful, and I can tell she is the type of Trainer who enjoys any battle, no matter the outcome. "Send out your second round Pokémon then, Luke."

"Easy," I say confidently. "For round two, I choose Azumarill!" I throw the Ball forward into the water as Ariel did with her Seel before me and watch as Azumarill emerges, lying back in the calm waters of the pool and looking pleased with himself.

"Ah, at last, a Water Pokémon!" Ariel calls enthusiastically. "Finally we can have a proper aqua battle. Cool." She selects her second Poké Ball, the centre of the three behind her. "My second round battler will be Lumineon!" She throws the ball forward and opposite Azumarill bursts a large fish Pokémon, dark blue in colour and very graceful looking.

"Reo…" I begin to call, turning my head behind me slightly.

"Already on it, Luke," he calls back, and I hear the familiar ping as my Pokédex registers a new species, before he speaks once again:

"Lumineon. The Neon Pokémon. The evolved form of Finneon. It lives on the deep-sea floor. It attracts prey by flashing the patterns on its four tail fins."

"OK then, let's go!" I call confidently. "Azumarill, use… Hey, wait a minute!" I say out loud, suddenly having realised something. Azumarill only has two moves that it can really use in this battle, and both of them will cause minimal damage to Lumineon.

"Lumineon, Water Pulse attack!" Ariel calls confidently. Her Lumineon conjures up a ring of water from out of the pool, which it fires at Azumarill, who is still basking in the sunlight coming through the glass roof and is caught off guard. The attack seems to leave my Pokémon somewhat confused.

"We might as well give it a go. Azumarill, BubbleBeam!" I command, but Azumarill doesn't seem to hear. He curls up into a ball and promptly sinks to the bottom of the pool, where he begins to roll back and forth, as though using his Rollout attack against an invisible submersible foe. "Azumarill, snap out of it…" I say through gritted teeth.

After a moment, Azumarill returns to the surface gasping for air. It seems its confusion has faded, although Ariel leaves no time to get a move in edgeways.

"Lumineon, Silver Wind!" she calls, and Lumineon flutters its fins to send a silvery powder floating through the air towards Azumarill. It hits, but my Water Pokémon seems able to take it.

"Hmm, so that wasn't so good," Ariel says, thinking out loud. "How about this, then? Make it rain, Lumineon!"

Lumineon begins to swim back and forth in a graceful pattern as though it is dancing, and suddenly from above a huge torrent of rain begins to fall inside the building. The torrential downpour takes me by surprise.

"What's going on, Reo?" I call behind me.

"Lumineon used Rain Dance," Reo explains. "It powers up Water-type moves across the battlefield."

"What, all Water-type moves?" I ask, subconsciously formulating a plan dependent on the answer.

"Yes, all Water-type moves used by any Pokémon on the field," Reo confirms.

"All right," I say, diverting my attention back to the battle with renewed determination. "Come on Azumarill, we can still win this. Try another BubbleBeam!"

"Lumineon, Water Pulse!" Ariel calls from across the field. Lumineon sends another ring of water towards Azumarill, but my Aqua Rabbit cleverly aims his bubbles so that they pass through the centre of the ring. Both Pokémon's attacks make contact, and I see that Lumineon seems to have been hit particularly hard, as though the move connected with a weak spot.

"Now's our chance, Azumarill!" I call out. "Go for it: Surf attack! Don't hold back anything!"

"Azuuuuuu!" Azumarill leaps behind me and lands standing on the water, where he proceeds to concentrate hard. Before long, a huge tidal wave is formed under him, which sweeps over my head as it heads towards Ariel and Lumineon, dragging me under the water. I fight to swim to the surface but the current is too strong and keeps pushing me down. Suddenly two strong arms grab me around my middle and pull me up to the surface, and as I break through I gulp in air, relieved to be safe again.

I turn to see who saved me and see Reo beside me in the water, looking over at me with concern, which changes to relief when he sees I am OK.

"Reo… Thanks," I say gratefully, placing my hand on my partner's shoulder.

"That was a risky strategy there, Luke, and it almost cost you," Reo says. "As it happens, it paid off. Look." He points behind me, and I turn around, noticing as I do that the rain has stopped falling.

Across the battlefield, Lumineon floats upside-down in the water, knocked out, in front of Ariel, who looks on in surprise. Azumarill floats just in front of them, basking in the sunlight once more.

"All right! You did it, Azumarill!" I cry happily, punching the air. I swim back towards the platform to retrieve his Poké Ball and call him back as Ariel returns her Lumineon. I swim back over to Ariel and come to rest a few feet away from her, with Reo floating just behind me.

"It's all over," I tell her, grinning in spite of myself. "I won the second round, too."

"You did indeed, Luke. I can't argue with it," Ariel says, nodding as she accepts defeat. "Two rounds are all it takes, and two rounds are yours. In recognition of your victory, the official Pokémon League Tide Badge is yours!"

Ariel turns away from me towards the Gym's throne. She reaches up and opens a safe door set into the base of the throne, takes something out and closes the door again, before swimming over to me with the object in her hand. She passes it to me and I see that it is the fourth Badge I need to enter the Pokémon League. The Tide Badge looks something like a backwards number 2, coloured dark blue and with a vertical rippled design.

"Thank you, Ariel," I tell her gratefully. "I was worried when you told me about your special battle conditions that I might not be able to defeat you, but with my Pokémon's help, we came through in the end, and now I'm halfway to taking on the Elite Four and becoming the new League Champion!"

"That's a challenge that I'm sure you'll make one day," Ariel says with a nod. "You have all the Badges from Southern Silvari now, am I right?" I nod to confirm this. "In that case, you should Surf north from here when you leave. There are four more Badges to collect in Northern Silvari, on the other side of the ocean. Head due north from here and you'll come to Dusty Outpost, from which you can catch a train that will take you through the desert, allowing you to reach both Mimarar City and Creater Town easily. You'll find Gyms in both of them."

"Thanks for the advice," I tell her, extending my hand and shaking with hers. "Make sure to keep an eye out for us someday, Ariel. Someday, we'll be the new Pokémon League Champions!"

As I exit the Gym and head back to the Pokémon Center to rest up before setting out for Northern Silvari tomorrow, I reaffirm in my head my new promise. I've made it halfway, so what's to stop me completing the other half?

What's to stop me from becoming the greatest Trainer of all time?


	18. Surfing On to Victory

**18.**

**SURFING ON TO VICTORY**

The following morning I awaken to a torrential rainstorm sweeping across Erique Island, with vicious waves lapping up the shore and powerful winds bending the palm trees. I stand in my room at the Pokémon Center and behold the sky outside with dismay. No matter how good a swimmer Azumarill may be, trying to Surf in a storm like that would be futile and dangerous. I decide that there's nothing I can do but sit tight and hope the weather eases later in the day.

As I wait in the Pokémon Center all day, boredom slowly creeps over me. I use my Xtransciever to phone mom and update her on my progress, and attempt to call Elliot after this, though he does not answer the phone, and I assume he is busy. For most of the rest of the day I discuss strategy with Reo, and we decide to head first to Mimarar City when we reach Northern Silvari and then visit Creater Town after earning the Badge from Mimarar Gym, as Creater Town is closer to the third Gym location, Silverton City.

The storm has finally eased by around five thirty in the evening, with only a few drops of rain still falling and a mild breeze. I decide to set out for Nothern Silvari now, as I don't want to wait on Erique Island any longer and give Elliot the chance to get yet further ahead of me.

As I begin my journey across the now calm waters, the afternoon sun just beginning to sink in the sky, my Xtransciever rings. I pull it out of my pocket and see Elliot's name, and I answer quickly.

"Hey, Elliot," I say, as my friend's face appears on the device's screen.

"Hey, Luke. How's it going?" Elliot asks. "Sorry I missed your call earlier."

"That's OK," I say. "I'm all right. I won my Tide Badge from Ariel yesterday, look." I open my jacket and show Elliot my collection of Badges, which now numbers four.

"Nice one," Elliot says with a nod and a grin. "I'm on the train to Mimarar City right now. I'm off to challenge Tyson at the Mimarar Gym. Where are you, Luke?"

"Um, not too far behind…" I respond slightly sheepishly. "I'm Surfing north to the Dusty Outpost at the moment. We left Erique Island about ten minutes ago."

"Really?" Elliot frowns. "I thought you said you won the Badge yesterday. How come it took you so long to get going?"

"There was a really bad storm earlier, and I didn't want to risk trying to cross the sea in it," I explain.

Elliot nods. "Fair enough. Well, you'd better get a move on, Luke. The last train leaves the Dusty Outpost at seven, and there's no Pokémon Center there, so you'll have to camp outside till tomorrow morning if you miss it."

My heart sinks. "Last train is at seven? I probably won't be there by then…"

"Don't worry, you'll make it here eventually," Elliot says with a smile. "I'd better go, Luke. We'll be arriving soon. Catch you later." The Xtransciever screen goes blank.

As I continue to Surf across the ocean on the back of my Azumarill, I check my watch every so often. The sun sinks lower and lower in the sky, and as evening turns to dusk, a thick fog begins to appear, seemingly from the very water itself. I check my watch again. Ten minutes past seven. I've missed the last train of the day…

Worse still, the fog has now grown so thick I can barely see ten feet in front of me. I can feel Azumarill quivering beneath me, possibly from tiredness, but more likely from unease, as he continues to swim forward with no real idea of where he's going.

Then, piercing through the fog some way ahead of me, comes a bright beam of light which scans across the night sky. I behold it, a feeling of hope suddenly flooding through my body.

"A lighthouse," I say out loud, my voice filled with relief. "Azumarill, head towards that light. That'll lead us to land."

"Azu," Azumarill replies, his voice as relieved as mine, and his swimming pace increases slightly.

At long last we reach the land, the night sky and the fog enveloping us in an almost suffocating grip. I heave myself onto the land and Azumarill drags himself up the beach and comes to rest next to me, panting heavily, clearly worn out from his over two hours of constant swimming. Above me, the beacon of light still continues to scan across the sky, coming from the lighthouse which, although I can tell it is close behind me, still remains hidden by the fog.

I turn to Azumarill. "Thank you, Azumarill," I say to him gratefully. "You've earned yourself a nice, long rest." I extract his Poké Ball and call him back, and he does not make any objection to being returned. I reattach his Poké Ball to my belt and remove another, releasing Reo once more.

Reo takes a look around, his eyes narrowed. "This doesn't look much like any kind of outpost to me," he says quietly.

"I think we strayed off course a little," I admit. "The fog was so bad I just headed for the first sign of light."

"That would be the lighthouse, would it not?" Reo asks, indicating. I follow his gesture but am still unable to make out the building. His eyesight is clearly much better than mine.

"Yeah," I say simply, hauling myself to my feet. "Come on. It's clearly still operational. With any luck, whoever lives there will let us stay for the night instead of making us camp out here in this fog."

Reo and I proceed cautiously through the fog. As we journey forward I begin to make out the shape of the lighthouse. It seems smaller than Hope Lighthouse, but the swirling beacon maintains the sense that it is still occupied. We reach the lighthouse and work our way around its base until we find a large wooden door.

I raise my hand and knock twice. "Hello?" I call out. "Is anyone there?" I knock the door again and the impact pushes it open slightly. I raise my eyebrows slightly in surprise before pushing the door with my palm. It swings open and I cross the threshold, followed by Reo.

Inside, the walls of the lighthouse are lined by bright flaming torches, though the air is still fairly cold. Reo and I move further inside and my eyes scan the room, looking for someone or something waiting to greet us in the darkness.

"Hello?" I call out again, and my voice echoes around the room. "Sorry to butt in, but is it all right if me and my Pokémon stay here for the night?" My voice echoes into the darkness, but no sound comes back.

"It doesn't sound like there's anyone here," Reo says thoughtfully.

"But there must be," I argue. "Someone must have activated the beacon. Come on, let's go to the light room and check it out."

I lead the way across the room to the far side, where there is an elevator shaft. I call the elevator and Reo and I step inside. There are only two buttons, a G for ground and an L for light, I assume. I press the L and the elevator doors close and it begins to ascend, slowly.

We arrive at the light room and Reo and I step out. The lighthouse beacon sits in the centre, rotating slowly and sending its signals out across the vast, fog-covered ocean. Around it, the various controls for activating the beam sit, mounted on desks set around the circular room. But the room itself is empty.

I make my way around the room slowly, my left hand at my belt, just in case something jumps out at us and I have to battle. But by the time I have made a complete circuit around the beacon, I can see that there is nothing and no one here.

"How weird is that," I say quietly, my voice betraying how distinctly unnerved I am.

"If there's no one here then I guess it's all right for us to stay," Reo says reasonably, with a shrug of his shoulders. "Come on, let's head back to the ground floor where we have more space."

Reo and I proceed back into the elevator and head back down to the ground floor. As the elevator reaches the bottom once more, and we step out through the doors and into the room, we both stop dead in our tracks, beholding the creature which has now appeared in the centre of the room.

The creature is reasonably short, only about a foot and a half, if that, and coloured beige. It has two long, pointed ears that rise in something of a V shape from its head, and which are orange on the top. It currently faces away from us, and I can see that it has a small, bushy tail and two tiny orange feet.

"What's that?" I whisper to Reo, indicating the creature.

"I don't know," Reo replies quietly.

"Is it a Pokémon?" I wonder out loud, extracting my Pokédex and holding it up towards the creature. The machine is silent for a moment, then it speaks in its mechanical voice.

"No comparable data found," the Pokédex announces, its voice echoing around the room. The little creature's ears twitch slightly and it turns towards us, and I can see that its eyes are large and round, and blue in colour.

"Vic?" the Pokémon asks in a high-pitched voice.

Reo lets out a short gasp from beside me. "I don't believe it…" he says. "That must be…" There is a ping from my Pokédex as it finally registers the Pokémon's species, and I look down at it as it announces:

"Victini. The Victory Pokémon. This Pokémon is said to bring victory. According to legend, any Trainer who catches Victini will always win every battle, regardless of the type of encounter."

"That's Victini?" I say in surprise. "The legendary Pokémon we went to look for at Hope Lighthouse?" I look at the tiny little creature, somewhat disappointed. I had expected a legendary Pokémon to look a little more impressive.

"We must have been searching the wrong lighthouse," Reo says, the faintest trace of a smile appearing at his mouth. "Remember back in Gaver City? Ben said there were two potential locations of Victini. We must have got to the right one before him."

I look at Victini, and it looks back at me. It shows no signs of running away or attempting to flee. I take a step closer to it, and still it remains unfazed. I am now beginning to feel excited. A Trainer who catches Victini will win every battle…

I unclip a Poké Ball from my belt and address the little creature. "Hey, Victini," I say with a friendly smile. "What say you travel with me and help me out? We could become the Champions of the Pokémon League overnight with your help. What do you think? Will you let me battle you and try and capture you?"

Victini looks at me, the smallest hint of fear entering its eyes. "Tini…" it squeaks, its voice afraid.

The doors to the lighthouse crash open, bringing a swirling wind into the room. I look up and behold three men dressed in extremely peculiar outfits, standing in the door frame. They step across the threshold and close the doors behind them. The men are dressed in what looks like a white apron over a black, skin-tight outfit topped off with blue armour on the shoulders, forearms and legs. Around their heads they wear a strange hood in the same blue colour as their armour, and emblazoned across the front of their aprons is an emblem: a shield with a white half and a black half, and a large blue P in the centre atop a zigzag of an identical blue.

"Victini! We've found you at last!" one of the men says, a sneer crossing his face as he takes a few steps closer to the terrified Pokémon.

"Who the heck are you guys?" I ask.

The man looks up at me. "We are members of the righteous Team Plasma, a noble organisation based in the Unova region that seeks to liberate all Pokémon worldwide."

"Plasmaaaa!" the other two men cry, nodding in agreement.

"We have journeyed from afar to find the mythical Pokémon Victini and set it free from the selfish Trainers who would try and capture it," the man explains, indicating Victini, who is still trembling with fear.

"Set it free? How do you mean?" Reo asks, a frown etched across his face. "Victini does not belong to anyone. How could it be more free than it is already?"

The lead man looks at Reo in surprise, before turning to his accomplices. "Did you guys hear that?" he asks, and they nod. The man grins. "King N's skills must be rubbing off on us. Now we can all hear Pokémon speak!"

"No, I just happen to be able to speak your language," Reo says with a scowl. "There is nothing special about you. Answer my question: how do you intend to liberate Victini?"

"It's simple. By capturing Victini and presenting it to our lord and master, King N, Victini will find freedom with the one person who can truly understand it."

"How can you liberate something by capturing it?!" Reo roars furiously. "Your words and your actions contradict each other completely!"

The lead Team Plasma member grins and takes a step closer to Reo. "You are very articulate for a Pokémon," he says. "Have you ever considered that maybe this boy here is just using you? That your enslavement to him has robbed you of a better, brighter future of freedom?"

"Luke is my friend," Reo growls, "and I'm not enslaved to him. We are partners, a team, and we fight as one. Right, Luke?"

"Right," I confirm with a nod, staring down the Team Plasma member. "And if your intention is to capture Victini purely to make yourselves stronger, we will resist you."

The Team Plasma member laughs. "You? Against the three of us? Really?" The other two Team Plasma members begin to laugh as well. "You might have spirit, kid, but I don't fancy your chances three against one." He unclips a Poké Ball from his belt, and his two accomplices do the same. I look in with some trepidation. Though I don't want to admit it, he's right: I don't stand much of a chance against three opponents at once.

"That's enough."

A voice echoes from the corner of the room, and all of us turn to look in its direction. Standing in the corner of the room, dressed in his usual dark shirt, jeans and long, black leather coat, is Ben, looking at the Team Plasma members with fury in his piercing brown eyes.

"How did you get in here?" one of the Team Plasma members, the one closest to him, asks. "The doors are still closed."

Ben ignores him and addresses the leader. "Leave this place at once. Victini is not yours to capture, nor should it be any human's. You get one warning: be gone, or face me."

The Team Plasma members laugh again. "You're no better than this whelp," the leader says. "You can't seriously think you'd match up against three of us."

Ben closes his eyes. "Like I said: one warning." Quick as a flash, he detaches a Poké Ball from his belt and hurls it in my direction. "Espeon, protect Luke, Reo and Victini," Ben commands as his pink cat-like Pokémon emerges at my side.

"Espe," it says in its majestic voice.

"Now, I challenge you to a battle," Ben says to the leader. "Three on one. Choose your Pokémon."

The three Team Plasma members line up side-by-side opposite Ben, and Victini takes its opportunity to scurry over to us and cower behind Espeon. A stare down initiates between Ben and the goons as Reo and I watch on. As concerned as I am, I can't help feeling a little excited. I'm about to watch Ben battle. Maybe from the sidelines I can learn a little about his strategy.

The three Team Plasma members each throw a Poké Ball into battle. Out of them come a Krokorok, a Scraggy, and a Pokémon that looks like a meerkat, dark brown and with a long tail that points upward behind it. I point my Pokédex at it surreptitiously to register its data.

"Watchog. The Lookout Pokémon. The evolved form of Patrat. When they see an enemy, their tails stand high, and they spit the seeds of berries stored in their cheek pouches."

Ben surveys the three Pokémon, not looking in the least bit concerned. He detaches a Poké Ball from his belt and throws it into battle opposite his trio of opponents. I wait and see what kind of Pokémon emerges. I'm sure it will be a Psychic-type, judging by Ben's love of them, but what kind, exactly?

The Pokémon that emerges is star-shaped and purple in colour, with a second star attached to its back, which is rotating slowly. It has no visible head or eyes, but in its centre is a beautiful red jewel, sparkling slightly in the reflection from the torches that line the room. I scan it with my Pokédex.

"Starmie. The Mysterious Pokémon. The evolved form of Staryu. Its central core glows with the seven colours of the rainbow. Some people value the core as a gem."

"What the heck is that supposed to be?" one of the Team Plasma members asks, indicating Ben's Starmie.

"This is my Starmie," Ben answers. "Allow me to demonstrate its strength. Starmie, Surf attack. Sweep them right out of this lighthouse."

A peculiar sighing sound issues from Starmie, and the red jewel suddenly glows blue in colour. The sound of the waves outside can be heard and the three Team Plasma members look around them worriedly.

Then, the lighthouse doors burst open and a flood of seawater enters, sweeping both the Team Plasma members and their Pokémon off their feet before heading straight for me, Reo, Espeon and Victini. I close my eyes and brace myself for the impact of the water but it never comes, and I open my eyes warily to behold the tidal wave held back by an invisible wall. I glance down and see the jewel on Espeon's head glowing brightly. It must be using its psychic powers to protect us from being swept away, just as Ben ordered it to.

The wave begins to recede, taking the Team Plasma members and Pokémon out of the building, presumably defeated. The doors of the lighthouse close of their own accord and Espeon relaxes and trots back over to its master, its deed now done. Ben, who I notice is completely dry, bends down and strokes his Pokémon for a moment, before recalling both Espeon and Starmie and straightening up to look at me, his expression hard.

"Luke," he says simply, in an almost accusatory tone.

I recoil slightly. "Ben," I respond with a nod.

"No thanks necessary," Ben says, though I hadn't even been thinking about thanking him for defeating Team Plasma. "I wanted to meet Victini, but it seems I was beaten to it. Still, Team Plasma are weak. One day I will journey to Unova and defeat their leader myself – once things are safe here in Silvari, at least."

"Ben, you're rambling…" I say quietly. "Is something wrong? You seem a little…tense."

"I wonder why that could be?" Ben says sarcastically, looking at me severely. His gaze makes me recoil yet further.

"I don't understand," I say in a voice of concern and confusion. "What exactly have I done wrong?"

"Legendary Pokémon should never be captured, Luke. I told you that the last time we met," Ben says in a tone of anger. "They are not tools for us to use."

"Hey, that's not fair," I retort, feeling quite angry myself. "You said that was only a belief of yours. Why should everyone have to believe the same as you do?"

"Because it is for the best. Look down. Victini has gone. It clearly sensed your desire to capture it and fled." I look down towards my feet and see that he is right. Victini has indeed disappeared. Ben gives an exasperated sigh. "Now how will I track it down again?"

"Stop being so selfish," I say. "The world doesn't revolve around you, you know. And stop trying to tell me what to do. You're not my father."

A peculiar look passes across Ben's face. His eyebrows raise the tiniest fraction in surprise and some of his anger seems to evaporate. "No, you're right. I'm not," he says quietly. "I apologise. I shall not interfere in your affairs again, Luke."

"Good," I say stubbornly. "Just when I was beginning to almost like you. But for the record, if this is what the real you is like, I much prefer Ramon Victicious."

"Hmph." Ben turns on his heel and marches out of the lighthouse without so much as a backward glance.

"Good riddance," Reo says in a satisfied way. I sigh and slump down on the floor, the guilt beginning to permeate into my body. Reo looks down at me in surprise. "Luke? What's the matter?"

"I shouldn't really have spoken to him like that," I admit. "He did help us out, and he did apologise for what he'd said…sort of. I just dunno where he gets off, telling me what to do and how to behave."

"I completely agree," Reo says, sitting down beside me. "You should be free to make your own choices. Personally, I would have welcomed the company of Victini, and to be honest, I don't think it was too against the idea of helping us out either."

"How do you mean?" I say, looking at Reo in confusion.

"Well, think about it. Someone lit the lighthouse beacon so that we could find our way here. Victini is a Psychic Pokémon, isn't it? I don't think it's overly far-fetched to think that it might have been the one that brought us here. I think its disappearance is more down to the fact that Team Plasma showed up than the fact that you wanted to capture it."

I nod, somewhat reassured, and begin to unpack my sleeping bag. "Do you think they'll follow it forever? Team Plasma, I mean?"

"Well, they chased it here all the way from the Unova region," Reo says sadly. "I hope Victini doesn't have to spend the rest of its life on the run, but if Team Plasma are anything like Team SPF, they'll be a persistent bunch."

"Well, maybe once I finally boot out the boss of Team SPF, I'll head to Unova myself and take care of them," I say determinedly. "Who needs that selfish psychic, anyway?"

Reo laughs. "Certainly not me." I finish unpacking and slide into my sleeping bag, and Reo curls up beside me on the floor that is still wet from Ben's battle with Team Plasma. As I wait to fall asleep, I consider what I have seen from him today: his determination that I should follow his rules, and his vow not to interfere in my business from now on. Is that a good thing? Has my partner been right all along about him?

I guess only time will tell…


	19. Non-Stop Service to Abandonment

**19.**

**NON-STOP SERVICE TO ABANDONMENT**

I awaken the following morning, reasonably warm but uncomfortable, my sleeping bag the only thing between me and the hard stone floor of the lighthouse. I sit up and stretch, before climbing out of my sleeping bag and beginning to pack it away in preparation for the day's journey.

Reo begins to stir as I am packing away, and he climbs to his feet as I finish putting my sleeping bag into my backpack. "Good morning, Luke," he says to me with a smile.

"Morning, Reo. You ready to set out for Dusty Outpost?" I ask him.

"Of course," he replies. "Whenever you are." I grin at him and he back at me, my concerns about Ben from the night before all but forgotten, and we cross the room to the lighthouse doors and step outside. My watch declares the time to be just after twenty past nine in the morning.

Outside the lighthouse there is a strong wind, which almost blows my cap clean off my head. I hold it down with one hand as Reo and I head onward, following the shoreline away from the lighthouse. I reason that the Dusty Outpost has to be near the shore somewhere, and without any proper directions I resolve to simply make the best of the situation and try and find my own way.

After we have been walking for about twenty minutes, my Xtransciever rings. I remove it from my pocket and see Luna's name, much to my surprise. I answer eagerly, and her pretty face appears on the screen, framed by her neat lavender hair. Her expression is somewhat stern.

"Hi, Luna," I greet her. "How's things?"

"Not bad, thanks," Luna says. Her voice is devoid of its usual cheeriness. "I've earned my first two Badges since we split up. The Cloud Badge from Vance and the Garden Badge from Heather."

"Really?" I say, impressed, my eyes widening slightly. "That's pretty good. Where are you now?"

"Back home in Gaver City. Mr. Victicious caught up to me and gave me a lift to save me trekking through Translucent Cave."

"Oh…" I feel myself grow slightly disappointed, though I am unsure why. "That was kind of him."

"Yes. He mentioned that he bumped into you last night in the Northern Lighthouse. And that you were rather rude to him." Luna's tone now is downright accusatory, and I recoil slightly.

"I wasn't rude," I say hesitantly. "I just…disagreed with him about something, that's all."

"Well, he told me what you said, and it sounded like you took it too far to me," Luna retorts, the accusatory tone still present. "How could you speak to him that way, Luke, after all he's done for you?"

"Hey!" I call at her, confused. "I don't understand. What major thing has he done for me, really? Why should he impose his rules on everyone else?"

"He has his reasons, I'm sure you know that by now. He has a reason for everything – he might not say what it is, but I've learned over the last twelve months that he can be trusted completely."

"Well, you would say that, you're the one that lives with him all the time," I mutter in annoyance.

"What did you say?" Luna says angrily on the other end of the line.

"Luna, that's enough," comes Ben's voice from off-screen. Luna looks to her right and Ben walks into shot and takes the device off her. He looks into my eyes sternly with his all-seeing brown ones.

"Luke has made his decision, and he wants nothing further to do with us. I understand that, and we must respect his wishes."

"You know, that wasn't exactly what I meant…" I mutter now, beginning to feel guilty again.

"Nevertheless, if you cannot accept that there is a reason for the things I ask of you, if you too feel that there is something about me that makes me unworthy of your trust and faith, then there is no point in me trying to change that. At least, not right now."

My curiosity is sparked by the ending of his rant. "What do you mean by that?" I ask him.

"You will require my aid again in due course, Luke," Ben says mysteriously. "You can't fight the connection that binds us. We will meet again, possibly sooner than you expect, and the next time we meet, you will fight alongside me in the common cause. And you will find me worthy of your trust, I guarantee."

"Yeah, right," I say, more aggressively than I actually feel. Inside, I am somewhat concerned. Ben's psychic powers have never been wrong yet. Will I really come to see him as the ally that he describes?

"The next time we meet, Luke. Until then, on behalf of Luna and myself, farewell." The Xtransciever screen goes blank. I stare at it for a moment before replacing it in my pocket.

Reo and I continue our walk along the shoreline from the Northern Lighthouse heading in the direction in which I hope we will find the Dusty Outpost. Ben's premonition still rings in my ears, seeming to echo through the corners of my mind, sounding more ominous each time it is repeated. I can sense that Reo knows this is playing on my mind as he stays silent throughout our walk, although I notice that he does shoot me several furtive sideways glances.

After over an hour's walking, just as my feet are beginning to ache with tiredness, I notice a shape appear on the horizon – indistinct, at first, but definitely in the shape of a building. As I draw closer I can make out the shape of a small cabin, next to which is a canopy over a raised platform which I assume is for a train to stop at. Beyond this building, a vast desert stretches around as far as the eye can see, and indeed the terrain I walk through now is becoming more barren and dusty, and certainly far removed from the leafy climes I have been used to, living in southern Silvari my whole life.

I finally reach the station and stop to rest under the canopy, relieved to have found shelter from the burning midday sun. The train is not here presently, although I can see now from the tracks set into the rocky ground that this is indeed where it runs. Still, in order to get my bearings, I cross over to a man standing near me and leaning against a pillar reading the newspaper.

"Excuse me," I say to him. The man looks up from his newspaper at me. He is dressed in a brown overcoat and suit and has dark brown hair severely cut into an almost perfect square, which sits atop his rather rectangular head. "Is this the Dusty Outpost where the train to Mimarar City stops?"

"Aye, that it is, laddie," the man responds with a nod. His speech is strongly accented and his words are little difficult to make out.

"Good," I say, relieved. "When does the next train arrive?"

The man checks his watch. "'Bout ten minutes' time," he informs me. He folds up his paper and turns to survey my appearance. He flashes a quick glance at Reo before saying "You a Pokémon Trainer, laddie?"

"Yeah," I confirm with a nod. "I'm Luke from Tranila Town. This is my partner Reo. We're heading out to Mimarar City to challenge the Gym Leader, Tyson."

The man nods knowingly. "Aye, I presumed as much."

"What about you?" I ask him now. "What brings you to this lonely part of Silvari?"

"Me?" the man repeats in surprise; evidently he wasn't expecting to be asked. "Well…uh… I'm, uh…"

"Is it something secret?" I ask him.

The man pauses for a moment before giving a shrug. "Ach, it cannae hurt to tell yeh, I suppose. Yeh seem trustworthy enough." There is another pause. "I'm a member of the International Police. Codename Macbeth. I'm investigating troubling reports of a gang of Pokémon criminals in this area."

"Pokémon criminals?" I repeat, and to my left I notice Reo's eyes narrow instinctively out of suspicion. "Are you talking about Team SPF?"

"Who?" Macbeth asks, his face displaying a confused expression. "I've never heard of a Team SPF, laddie. Who're they?"

"They're the Silvari Pokémon Force. They're basically a gang of thieves who go around stealing other people's Pokémon. Pretty criminal, wouldn't you say?"

"Aye, that does sound pretty troubling," Macbeth agrees, nodding. "It's not a name I've heard before, though. Not sure they're connected to this incident I'm investigating now."

I open my mouth to question him further, but am distracted by a whistling noise in the distance. I look away from Macbeth and see the outline of a large steam train coming down the tracks towards the Outpost station. Macbeth looks up too, and a satisfied smile crosses his face. He moves over to the edge of the platform to wait, and I follow him there.

The train stops and the doors are opened by a conductor, who climbs down onto the platform and out of the way. Before I can board the train however, something small and brown jumps out of the now-open doors towards me, colliding with my chest and knocking me backwards onto the floor. I look at it and see a small creature with fluffy brown fur, long pointed ears and large eyes filled with fear standing on my chest and looking at me with some concern.

"Hey," I say to it, trying to be friendly. "What are you, then?" As carefully as possible, as I do not want to dislodge the creature and possibly scare it away, I reach into my pocket to extract my Pokédex and hold it up to the creature.

"Eevee," the Pokédex announces. "The Evolution Pokémon. Its irregularly configured DNA is affected by its surroundings. It evolves if its environment changes."

"So, you're an Eevee," I say to it, replacing my Pokédex. "I've wanted one of these for ages. Ben's Espeon evolved from Eevee, right? If I catch you, you can evolve into an Espeon for me, too."

"Um, Luke?"

Reo's voice distracts me and I look up at him. "What's up, Reo?"

"I'm afraid this Eevee already has a Trainer."

My heart sinks. "Really? How do you know?"

"Look behind its right ear. See that little heart-shaped mark? Trainers can brand their Pokémon with a mark like that for easy identification, and to make their Pokémon a little unique." I look at Eevee's head and see that Reo is right; behind the Pokémon's right ear is a tiny little dark mark in the vague shape of a heart.

"Isn't that a bit cruel, branding your Pokémon like that?" I ask, determined to find fault with this unknown Eevee Trainer. I'm sure I would be way better at raising an Eevee than them.

Reo shrugs. "I can't say it's something I've experienced," he responds vaguely. "At any rate, unfortunately, we can't add Eevee to our team. We should probably get onto the train before it leaves."

My mind snaps back to the present. "Oh yeah," I say. I make to stand up and Eevee obediently jumps down off my chest as I get to my feet. I make my way over to the train doors and turn back to look at it once before boarding. "Nice meeting you, Eevee." Eevee simply looks back at me, its big eyes still seeming upset about something. I wonder where its Trainer is, but before I can go and look for them, the train's whistle sounds, and I realise that it is ready to leave. I wrench my eyes away from Eevee and proceed into the cabin, Reo following close behind.

"Luke! Over here!"

A voice from further into the cabin calls my name, and I recognise Macbeth's accent. I proceed over to where he is sitting and take the seat opposite him, and Reo sits down beside me. "What kept yeh, Luke?" Macbeth asks. "Yeh almost missed the train."

"Sorry," I say to him. "I got jumped by a Pokémon. An Eevee, to be precise."

"Vee!"

No sooner have I said its name than the high-pitched cry sounds from behind me. I turn around in time to see a big fluffy brown ball jump towards me again, this time landing on my lap. I look down in surprise and see Eevee sitting there – unmistakeably the same one due to the mark behind its ear. Its big eyes look up at me urgently, like it's trying to tell me something.

"Eevee? What's the matter?" I ask it in concern.

"Eevee! Eevee, Eevee-vee, eev Eevee?"

I stare back at it blankly for a moment following this proclamation. "Uh…"

"Eevee wants to know your name," Reo translates for me.

"Oh! That it?" I turn back to Eevee. "I'm Luke, and this is Reo. Nice to meet you, Eevee."

"Eevee, is something the matter?" Reo asks it now. "You seem troubled by something."

Eevee's big eyes look over at Reo, before it launches into another flurry of cries which make absolutely no sense to me, but which Reo seems to understand, for he nods through the speech, his expression grim.

"OK, I understand," Reo announces as Eevee concludes its speech.

"What'd it say?" Macbeth asks, obviously curious, as I am, as to the Eevee's plight.

"This Eevee has been on this train for three days now. His previous Trainer said he was just going to buy snacks, and told Eevee to wait for him. But Eevee's Trainer hasn't returned yet, and Eevee's scared that he might have forgotten about him. He wants us to help him find his Trainer."

"He's been stuck on this train for three whole days?" I repeat, aghast. "That's awful." I look down at Eevee. "Don't worry, Eevee. I'm sure we'll find your Trainer again. We should ask the other passengers and see if any of them know anything about this lost Eevee."

"I think I might be able tae help you there," Macbeth says from opposite me. He reaches into the pocket of his overcoat and extracts a rectangular scanner device. I recognise it as the same as the one used by the police officer in Skyris Town. "This'll identify the ID number of this Eevee. If anyone claims Eevee as theirs, all we have tae do is check their Trainer card tae see if their ID number matches Eevee's. If it does, then we've found Eevee's Trainer."

Macbeth holds the scanner up to Eevee for a moment and examines it. Eevee eyes him back fearfully, but does not make any physical objection to being scanned. After a couple of moments, Macbeth nods, and replaces the scanner in his pocket.

"OK, this Eevee's ID number is 17812. Be on the lookout for a Trainer whose ID number matches that."

"17812," I repeat, committing the number to memory. "Got it. Come on Eevee, let's get you home."

Macbeth and I proceed down the train through the remaining carriages, questioning the various passengers to see if any of them have lost an Eevee. While we do encounter several Pokémon Trainers on board, some of whom recognise the kind of Pokémon Eevee is, none of them claim him as theirs. I begin to get increasingly concerned as we near the front of the train.

Finally, in the second-to-last carriage, we approach a group of rough-looking men playing cards. "Excuse me," I say to them. Only one of the four looks up at us, the one sitting nearest Macbeth, who has a thin grey moustache and unfriendly eyes. "Have any of you lost an Eevee over the last three days? We're trying to locate this little guy's Trainer."

"Eevee…" the man repeats gruffly. He turns to the man sitting next to it. "Eric, didn't you leave your Eevee on a train a few days ago?"

"Yeah," the man says, still without looking up. "So what? That puny thing was pathetic, it wouldn't even fight in proper battles, and when I tried to make it evolve, it refused. What good's a disobedient little brat of a Pokémon like that?"

"How dare you," Reo growls dangerously. The men finally look up from their card game. "You'd abandon your Pokémon without any sort of remorse, purely because it doesn't want to battle or evolve? You're a disgrace to the name of Pokémon Trainers everywhere!"

Eric looks back at Reo incredulously. "Are you questioning the way I treat my Pokémon?" he asks angrily.

"I think every decent person would," Macbeth says. "And the worst part is that Eevee always believed yeh would come back for it. Yeh told it yeh were only going tae get food. It's been waiting for yeh on this train for three whole days!"

Eric guffaws stupidly. "Then it's even more thick than I thought, to believe that!" he yells, and his companions chortle at this. Eric laughs once more before turning his eyes back to his card game.

Reo has had enough. He bangs his fist on the table and forces Eric to look at him again. "Listen to me, human. I will only say this once. This Eevee is your responsibility, and it makes me sick to think that it belongs to a pathetic excuse for a Trainer like you. But be that as it may, it's still yours. If you won't take it back, if you believe that Pokémon are only good for battling, then face me, and I will show you just how much of an imbecile you really are."

"Reo, are you sure about this?" I say to him in an undertone.

"Don't question me, Luke!" Reo snaps. "This guy has to be taught a lesson."

Eric stands up and barges past his companion into the aisle, to stand opposite Reo. His face is contorted with rage. "You want a battle? You got one," he says quietly.

"Bring it on," Reo responds, unfazed.

Macbeth and I step backwards, Eric's Eevee still in my arms as Reo faces off against Eric. I know that this is Reo's fight, and I have no intention of interfering, so I merely watch and wait to see who his opponent will be.

"Go, Gurdurr!" Eric cries, tossing his Poké Ball into battle. "Crush this idiot!"

Out of the Poké Ball comes a bipedal grey-brown Pokémon with angry eyes and a rather fluffy-looking head. It carries a long steel girder in its arms and stares down Reo, eye-to-eye with my own Pokémon. I point my Pokédex at it to get its details registered.

"Gurdurr. The Muscular Pokémon. The evolved form of Timburr. This Pokémon is so muscular and strongly built that even a group of wrestlers could not make it budge an inch."

"We'll see about that," Reo retorts, not taking his eyes off Gurdurr.

"Go, Gurdurr! Smash it with a DynamicPunch!" Eric orders. Gurdurr draws its right fist back, balancing its metal beam in just one hand, before extending it ahead and making to punch Reo. Reo watches the attack carefully, and just before impact deftly jumps out of the way and over Gurdurr's head, slashing at it with a Metal Claw as he passes.

"Don't let it hit you, you stupid Pokémon!" Eric roars as Reo lands on the train floor just in front of him. "Low Sweep attack, now!"

Gurdurr spins around, using its metal beam as a weapon and swinging it across towards Reo's legs, but again Reo simply jumps over the attack and out of the way. Gurdurr looks highly annoyed at this, and swings the beam around again, and again Reo jumps over it, this time launching a Force Palm attack as he lands that sends Gurdurr staggering backwards towards me and Macbeth.

"I could do this all day," Reo says smugly. Suddenly he is launched forward off his feet and crumples down onto the train floor. I look up and see Eric glaring down at him, his hands balled into fists. My anger begins to build.

"Did you just _hit_ my Pokémon?!" I cry in outrage.

"That's out of order, sir," Macbeth agrees. "People should never interfere in Pokémon battles, for their own safety as well as their Pokémon's. Yeh could lose yer Trainer license for that."

"I don't give a damn!" Eric yells. "I am not losing to this stuck-up Pokémon!" He directs his attention to his own Pokémon. "Gurdurr, I've weakened it for you. Finish it off with a DynamicPunch, now!"

"Gur!" Gurdurr charges towards Reo, fist ready. Reo looks up just in time to see Gurdurr about to hit him, and in desperation wraps his arms around himself and braces for the attack. Gurdurr's fist collides and Reo lets out a cry of pain and slumps to the ground, looking severely shaken.

"Hahahaha!" Eric cries victoriously. "I win! What were you saying about teaching me a lesson, punk?" Gurdurr crosses over to stand in front of his Trainer, who continues laughing mockingly at Reo. "I told you I have no need for that Eevee when I have Pokémon who can actually fight. Why don't you have it put down, it's worthless anyway."

"How dare you…" a low, furious voice growls. I look down and see Reo getting unsteadily to his feet, his face angrier than I have ever seen it.

"What the…" Eric mutters in disbelief. "Impossible."

Reo turns to face him and draws his arms round to his side, building his energy. Eric and Gurdurr watch on in concern, and Eric's friends exchange worried glances with one another as the ball of energy between Reo's palms grows ever larger. Finally, with a grunt of effort, Reo fires the Aura Sphere straight at Gurdurr, who has no chance to block the attack. It hits it square in the chest and sends him flying backwards into Eric, whose head collides with the top of Gurdurr's beam. The two villains are sent skidding across the floor right to the back of the carriage. Eric's friends give a cry of surprise and cross over to him, and they stand surveying the unconscious bodies of both him and his Pokémon.

Reo collapses onto one knee, exhausted from the effort of using all his energy to unleash his Aura Sphere. I cross over to him and Macbeth follows me. "Are you all right, Reo?" I ask him urgently.

"I'll be fine, I'm just drained of my energy," Reo responds quietly. He stands up and faces me, a smile on his face. "I'm sorry if I worried you, Luke. But I couldn't let that dreadful excuse for a man go unpunished."

"You were very noble," I say to him with a smile. "I'm sure he'll think twice about his actions in the future."

"Well, I might just be able tae do something about that," Macbeth says, and I look over at him. "I'm a member of the International Police, remember? And from what I've seen today, there's enough evidence tae get that man's Trainer license revoked. I might not have caught the criminals I was assigned tae catch today, but at the very least I can make sure that _this_ criminal is never allowed tae raise a Pokémon again."

"Thanks, Macbeth," I say to him gratefully. "I'll leave you to take out the trash, shall I?"

"The pleasure was all mine, Luke," Macbeth says, holding out his hand for me to shake. "Good luck on yer Pokémon journey. With strength like that, I've every confidence we'll be seeing yeh and Reo again on the greatest stage of all someday: the Pokémon League!" With that, he turns away from me and heads over towards Eric and his companions.

With Eric sorted, I turn my attention to the fluffy ball still in my arms. I place Eevee on the table at which Eric and his friends were sat, and he looks up at me with his big eyes, which are no longer full of concern and now contain a look of happiness.

"Well, Eevee," I begin. "Your old Trainer got what he deserved in the end, but unfortunately that means you don't have a Trainer anymore. Unless, of course…you fancy coming with me?"

"Eev! Eev, Eevee?" Eevee chirrups. I look over at Reo for a translation.

"Eevee says yes, on one condition," Reo informs me. "You know what that condition is, Luke."

I nod and look back at Eevee. "Don't worry, Eevee. Not every Trainer is as selfish and shallow as Eric. If you don't want to battle, you don't have to. Just having a Pokémon as cute as you to travel with is enough for me."

"Eevee!" Eevee cries happily, and licks my face. I laugh and pick him up to look at him more closely.

"Welcome to the team, Eevee," I say. "Now I have six Pokémon. I'm a proper Pokémon Trainer now."

"Next stop, the Mimarar Gym?" Reo asks with a smile, and I nod to confirm this. I'm coming after Tyson and his Badge, and I've got the strength of my Pokémon allies behind me all the way.


	20. Cage Fight at Mimarar Gym!

**20.**

**CAGE FIGHT AT MIMARAR GYM!**

The train finally arrives in Mimarar City just over half an hour later. The doors open and I step down onto the platform, my new Eevee in my arms and Reo following close behind. Ahead of me lies the city; from what I can see it is fairly small, with only a few houses around the edges and the usual Pokémon Center off to my right. The main attraction in this City is clearly the Gym, which sits right in the centre towering over everything else, its metal walls a dark grey colour.

My watch declares the time to be two forty-five in the afternoon. Having not eaten all day, I decide to head to the Pokémon Center first to have some food and get my strength up before challenging the Gym. As I enter, I stop for a moment and head over to the store counter to refresh my supplies of Poké Balls and Potions, before leaving Reo to see about getting himself healed and taking myself off to the cafeteria to eat.

Once we have finished our meal, my Pokémon and I make our way over to the Gym. Before heading inside, I place Eevee on the floor and extract a Poké Ball from my bag, which I hold up to him.

"Come on, Eevee, you'd better come in here," I explain. "You don't like fighting, right? I don't think a Gym would be the kind of atmosphere you'd enjoy. I'll let you out again as soon as we win our Badge, promise." Eevee looks a tad fearful, and glances over at Reo, who nods encouragingly, before looking back at me and nodding as well. I press the button on the centre of the Ball and withdraw Eevee to safety.

I turn my attention to Reo. "Come on then Reo, let's go and take on Tyson." I push through the Gym doors with Reo following close behind.

We enter into a small lobby, similar to the one in the Gym on Erique Island but much less inviting. The room is small and dusty, and fairly dark due to being lit only by a single dim light bulb in the ceiling. There are no doors ahead of us, just one off to the left with a sign above it saying STANDS, and a doorway to the right with another sign above it saying BACKSTAGE – AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY. In the corner of the room is a desk, at which a large woman with bright red hair is sat. I make my way over to her.

"Hi," I say, and she looks up at me. "I've come to challenge Tyson, the Gym Leader."

The woman looks down at a sheet of paper on her desk. "We have free slots at seven thirty, eight fifteen, nine fifteen and nine thirty," she tells me in something of a snarl. "Which one do you want?"

"Free slots?" I repeat, puzzled. "What does that mean?"

The woman gives me a withering look, then lets out a sigh. "Here at Mimarar Gym we hold a variety of different contests of strength. Some involve people and some involve Pokémon. This is also where we hold our Gym Battles where aspiring Trainers can take on our Leader, Tyson, for a Combat Badge." Her voice is extremely bored and her words have a learned-by-heart sound to them, and I can tell that this is a speech she has had to give many times.

"Therefore, all Trainers wishing to challenge Tyson must book a time slot with me. We need to make sure the arena is clear and that they may battle safely with nothing else going on."

"Oh. OK," I say. I look over at Reo, who gives a shrug. "I guess I'll have the seven thirty time slot then, please."

The woman passes over a second piece of paper and a pen. "Fill in your details," she commands, still bored by the sound of it. I pick up the pen somewhat warily and examine the paper:

NAME: That's easy enough. Luke Norton.

HOMETOWN: Again easy. Tranila Town.

WEIGHT: Uh… I guess I'll leave that one blank.

TYPE OF CHALLENGE: I suppose that'd be a Gym Battle.

DESIRED TIME SLOT: Seven thirty. The woman has already stamped that one on there.

My attention is drawn to the paragraph beneath all this, and I find myself touched by a twinge of unease:

_DISCLAIMER: The management cannot be held responsible for any serious injury to persons or Pokémon caused by engaging in activity at Mimarar Gym. By signing below, you confirm that you are aware of the risks associated with your chosen activity and are still willing to make the challenge. Please also note that the management reserves the right to change or alter any activity without prior notice._

_Please sign here to confirm your application._

I look at the woman again. "I didn't know I had to sign anything…" I mumble. "Does everyone have to do this?"

"Just standard procedure to make sure you aren't going to try and sue us if your Pokémon get injured in your battle," the woman drawls. "Don't worry, it's been at least a couple of weeks since that last happened. I'm sure you'll be fine."

Her tone of voice does not reassure me in the least, but I know I have to get this Badge if I'm going to challenge the Pokémon League someday. It is with some trepidation, therefore, that I sign my name at the bottom of the paper and hand it back over to the woman.

For the next few hours Reo and I remain in the Pokémon Center in the room I have booked for the night, realising that the last train to Creater Town will have left by the time I finish my battle against Tyson. We have strict instructions to be back at the Gym fifteen minutes before our desired time slot, and so we spend the majority of the time discussing strategy, as I fully intend to get this battle won as quickly as possible so I don't have to go back to that Gym again. Ever.

Though I cannot remember from school which type of Pokémon the Gym Leader prefers, the name of the town's Badge, the Combat Badge, as well as the atmosphere and information in the disclaimer make me feel as though Tyson may be a user of Fighting-type Pokémon. This cheers me up significantly, as I realise that I have two Pokémon tailor-made to battle them in Staravia and Kirlia. Nevertheless, Reo reminds me of the situation in Erique Island, and warns me not to get complacent, and we discuss alternative strategies that we might use if our original becomes unfeasible.

Seven fifteen arrives all too soon, and I make my way back over to the Gym somewhat reluctantly. The woman looks up again at my entrance and indicates that I should take the doorway to my right that leads to the backstage area. I head this way, butterflies multiplying rapidly in my stomach. As I proceed through the backstage area, I can hear what sounds like a murmur of noise coming from the main arena. I wonder what it could be.

Eventually I come to a man blocking the pathway ahead of me. He has an earpiece in his right ear and a clipboard in his hand, and he stands next to a parting in the black curtains that separate the backstage area from the main arena. He holds up his hand and indicates that I should stop.

"Luke Norton?" he asks, and I nod. "Wait here until you're called." I stand before him, Reo just behind me, and await what happens next. My whole body is quivering out of nerves. Without question, this is definitely the most unsettling Gym yet.

A fanfare plays from inside the arena and the noise from within suddenly gets louder. I can hear cheering and applause, and my panic begins to increase. That sounds like a live audience…

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Mimaraaaaaaaaaaaar Gyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyym!" a thunderous male voice announces to the euphoric crowd. "I am JD, your announcer for this upcoming match: a Pokémon battle for the Cooooombaaaaaaat Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaadge!"

More cheering and applause follows this announcement, and I can tell that JD is the kind of person who can get a crowd excited about just about anything.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your challenger! He comes to us from Tranila Town, and weighs in at…uh…never mind. Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together…for Luuuuuuuuuke Nooooooooooortoooooooooooooo n!"

The man to my right pulls back the curtain and ushers me inside. I step into the arena, and if I wasn't already nervous, the sight that greets me is almost enough to make me give up and go home.

The arena is huge, and around the four walls are stands at least ten or twelve rows deep, each one packed to the rafters with people who are offering me a polite welcome. Right in the centre of the arena ahead of me is a large six-sided ring, like a wrestling or boxing ring, in the centre of which stands a man with a microphone, who I assume is JD. My legs, working on autopilot, carry me towards the ring, where JD crosses over to the edge and shakes my hand. "Good luck, Luke," he offers, and gestures that I should move around to the other side of the ring, which I do, feeling extremely faint.

The crowd quietens down as JD returns to the centre of the ring. "And now, his opponent. He weighs in at two hundred ninety-seven pounds and is your Mimarar City Gym Leader. Ladies and gentlemen…Tyyyyyyysoooooooooooooon Miiiiiiiiiiiiiichaaaaaaaaaaa els!"

The roar from the crowd is deafening, and from across the arena I see the curtain pulled back once more, and watch as Tyson steps through. Even from a distance I can tell that he is enormous, at least six foot six if not more, and extremely heavily muscled. He wears a tight-fitting white vest top over his ebon skin, and a pair of jeans cut off about three quarters of the way down. His head is bald, and he is walking over towards the ring calmly, acknowledging the rapturous welcome from the crowd with a smile on his face.

Tyson stops next to the ring and JD crosses over and shakes his hand, just as he did with me, before returning to the centre.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest will be a three round Pokémon battle with no switching allowed. The first Trainer to win two out of three rounds will be declared the winner. If our challenger, Luke, can defeat our Gym Leader, Tyson, he will earn a Combat Badge, and can advance on his quest to the Pokémon League!

"But ladies and gentlemen, this is Mimarar Gym. Things aren't going to be so easy for our challenger today. As if facing our Leader, Tyson, was not challenge enough, he must defeat his opponent…within the confines of the steel cage!" A roar of excited surprise emanates from the crowd, a feeling which I most certainly am not feeling. The predominant emotion I feel is horror. A cage fight for my Gym Badge? That's not in the rules, surely? At my side, I can tell that Reo is also uneasy – he clearly didn't expect this either.

JD looks towards the ceiling. "Lower the cage!" he calls out. The lighting is suddenly turned down, and dramatic music sounds out around the arena, and I look up and see the cage structure descending from the ceiling to close around the ring. JD, who has exited on the side nearest me, makes to walk past, and I call out to him.

"Mr. JD!" I cry out in desperation. "I'm sorry, there must be a mistake. I didn't sign up for a cage fight!"

"You signed the disclaimer, didn't you?" JD asks. "It clearly states that we're allowed to alter the rules without telling you. We're all about giving the fans what they want, and the fans love a cage match. Sorry, but that's the way it works." With that, he wanders off to the other side of the arena, as the cage finishes lowering and is locked into place around the ring. The crowd start to cheer again as a young, slim woman dressed in a sparkly bikini walks around the edge of the ring, bearing a large sign that says 'Round 1'.

"Round 1 is about to begin!" JD announces from his position at a podium on the other side of the arena. "Challenger Luke, please select your first Pokémon."

An assistant opens the cage door in front of me and I sigh once more. I guess I'll have to make the best of it. I extract a Poké Ball from my belt and somewhat reluctantly toss it into the cage, where it bursts open to reveal my bird Pokémon, Staravia, to a flurry of "oooooh!"s from the crowd.

"Our challenger has selected a Staravia!" JD announces. "Staravia's speed and Flying-type give it an advantage over Fighting Pokémon! But will Staravia be able to battle at full strength in the confines of the cage? Let us see! Gym Leader, please select your first Pokémon!"

A door is opened on the other side of the cage, and Tyson throws in his own Poké Ball. Out of it comes a bipedal Pokémon with brown skin and spindly arms and legs. It wears boxing gloves on each of its hands and is dressed in what looks like a kind of purple leotard.

"Chaaaan!" it cries, to cheers from the crowd.

"Gym Leader Tyson will use his Hitmonchan!" JD calls out. "This punchy Pokémon can pummel an opponent with its pugilistic punches! But can it overcome its type disadvantage to Staravia? Let us see! Begin round one!"

A bell sounds in the arena, indicating the start of the match, and it is this sound that jerks me back to my senses. I behold the arena, surrounded by a metal cage, but inside it, it's just an ordinary Pokémon battle. I know a thing or two about battling. I've got nothing to worry about.

"All right, Staravia, let's rock and roll!" I call, my confidence beginning to return. "Wing Attack!"

"Detect it, Hitmonchan!" Tyson calls back. Staravia flies over to Hitmonchan and makes to strike with her wing, but Hitmonchan raises its gloves over its face and blocks the attack, suffering no damage at all.

"Oh, what a start!" JD cries in excitement. "Hitmonchan's Detect saves it from Staravia's Wing Attack! How will Luke come back from this?"

"Staravia, Double Team!" I cry.

"Hitmonchan, Mach Punch!" is the response.

Staravia begins to fly around in circles at colossal speeds, creating its illusory copies. Hitmonchan fires off a flurry of punches equally quickly, but Staravia's speed and tactics mean that it does not make contact.

"Unbelievable! Staravia dodges all of Hitmonchan's attacks!" JD yells. "I don't think any of us saw that coming!"

"Now, Wing Attack it!" I call out, and Staravia stops flying around and appears right next to Hitmonchan's head, where she gives him a hearty smack with her right wing, sending Hitmonchan staggering backwards, to gasps of surprise from the crowd.

"Nice one! Now hit it with a Quick Attack!" I command, and Staravia wraps her wings around herself and dives at Hitmonchan.

"Hitmonchan, dodge!" Tyson orders, and Hitmonchan skips out of the way just in time as Staravia whizzes past and makes contact with the cage, her beak becoming jammed between two of the steel links, to more gasps from the crowd.

"Oh, no!" JD calls. "Staravia misses and gets stuck in the cage! It's completely helpless!"

Across the ring, a malicious grin spreads across Tyson's face. "Hitmonchan, use your ThunderPunch attack on the cage!" he orders. Inside the cage, Hitmonchan rubs its two gloves together, generating a static electrical charge which even from my distance I can hear crackling in the air, before driving its right fist up and into the cage roof. The metal of the cage conducts the electricity, and Staravia gets zapped with the full force of the attack. When Hitmonchan finally removes its glove, Staravia drops to the floor, defeated.

"Wow, what strategy!" JD calls out as I recall my Pokémon dejectedly. "Tyson uses the situation to his advantage and takes out Staravia, winning the first round!" But although JD's voice is as excited as usual, I can hear several noises of disapproval from the crowd around me. It seems that they weren't so fond of Tyson's tactics, which gives me a much-needed confidence boost.

"Come on, Tyson," I call loudly over to him as he calls back Hitmonchan. "Zapping the cage? Really? An all-powerful Gym Leader like you shouldn't need to resort to those kinds of tactics." The crowd makes a noise of agreement, and some of them even start booing at Tyson, which again increases my confidence. They're actually getting on my side.

"Oh! Harsh words from our challenger, Luke!" JD calls enthusiastically. "Things are beginning to get personal in our badge battle! Let's see how we progress in round two!" The scantily-clad woman again circles the ring, with her board held aloft saying 'Round 2'. "Challenger Luke, select your Pokémon, please!"

The cage door is opened, and I toss in my second Poké Ball, releasing Kirlia. I know now that winning this round is not enough to claim victory, but I'm confident in Kirlia's ability to keep me in the battle.

"Next up for our challenger is Kirlia, a Psychic Pokémon, and another battler with an advantage over our Gym Leader's Fighting Pokémon. But will its low defences make it susceptible to Tyson's Pokémon's powerful physical attacks? Let us see! Gym Leader, please release your second Pokémon!"

Tyson throws his Poké Ball into the cage, and out of it emerges another big, muscular-looking Pokémon, this one purple in colour with red stripes along its arms and a shiny gold belt with a letter P in the centre around its waist.

"Tyson has elected to use his Machoke!" JD announces. "This tough Pokémon certainly hits hard, but can it overcome its weakness to Kirlia's psychic attacks? Let us see! Begin round two!"

The bell sounds again and I launch straight into the action. "Kirlia, let's end this quickly. Confusion attack!" Kirlia's horns glow and it launches its attack at Machoke, who gives a cry of pain and staggers backwards.

"A great start for Luke!" JD calls in excitement. "How will Tyson respond?"

"Machoke, Revenge attack!" Tyson calls, and Machoke charges at Kirlia, barrelling into her and sending her spinning away. "Good, now Cross Chop it!"

"Kirlia, protect yourself with Reflect!" I command, and Kirlia heeds my words, throwing up an invisible barrier at the last moment that blocks Machoke's attack.

"Machoke, use Brick Break to smash that barrier!" Tyson orders, and Machoke delivers a karate chop straight towards the invisible wall. There is a sickening shattering sound and Kirlia staggers backwards, the force of the blow clearly making it unsteady.

"Wow, what a flurry of offense!" JD cries. "Kirlia blocks Machoke's attack, but Machoke smashes its protective barrier, leaving Kirlia vulnerable! This could be the end of the road for Kirlia and Luke!"

"Machoke, Cross Chop, and make sure you hit this time!" Tyson roars, sensing victory, but I have other ideas.

"Kirlia, blind it with Flash!" I cry out. Machoke makes to strike, but Kirlia looks up and unleashes a blinding flash of light that causes the entire audience to cry out in surprise. When the light clears, Kirlia has moved so that she is now behind Machoke. "Yeah! Now finish it with Confusion!" I cry, and Kirlia launches another psychic attack at Machoke, who is thrown of its feet and sent colliding painfully into the wall of the cage. It slides down to the floor and does not get up again.

The crowd roars with excitement, and as usual, JD seems hard-pressed to contain his own. "What an astonishing turn of events!" he cries. "Kirlia's Flash attack gives it the advantage and allows it to take round two! It all comes down to the final round; what an exciting Gym Battle we have for you today, ladies and gentlemen!"

Tyson and I recall our Pokémon and stare at each other through the metal structure of the cage, our eyes locked on each other in determination as the bikini lady announces the start of 'Round 3'. The cage door is opened for me.

"The final round is about to begin!" JD calls. "Challenger Luke, we await your final Pokémon with bated breath!"

I turn to my partner, standing at my side as usual. "Reo, are you ready to win us a Badge?" I ask him.

"Of course," he replies with a smile, and proceeds to enter the ring to many gasps of surprise from the crowd.

"Oh, my!" JD exclaims. "It looks like Luke is sending his mascot into the ring! What can he possibly be thinking?"

"He's not my mascot!" I call over to JD in annoyance. "Reo is my partner Pokémon, and my friend. I'm choosing him for round three."

A stunned silence follows this proclamation, both from JD and the crowd. "Well…I guess as long as it's a Pokémon then that's within the rules," JD says with a shrug. "What an unusual match this is turning out to be! Gym Leader Tyson, please select your final Pokémon to face Luke's…uh…"

"It's Reo," Reo informs him, and JD raises his eyebrows, clearly not knowing how to respond to that.

The cage door in front of Tyson is opened and he throws in his Poké Ball with a grunt. Out of it comes a Pokémon with red skin, fairly chubby-looking and dressed in what looks like a judo outfit, complete with black belt.

"Ah, here's a Pokémon we all know something about!" JD announces, his usual enthusiasm resumed now he knows what he's talking about. "Tyson has chosen Throh as his final Pokémon! Can this resilient battler overcome its unusual opponent? Let us see! Begin the final round!"

The bell sounds for the third and final time and Tyson wastes no time in ordering his Pokémon to attack. "Throh, give it a Seismic Toss!"

Throh crosses over to Reo and attempts to grab him, but Reo grapples him back, and the two Fighting Pokémon lock up in the centre of the ring, to many gasps from the crowd.

"Looks like we've got a test of strength on here, folks!" JD announces. "Who's going to come out on top?"

Come on Reo, I think to myself. You can do this. Reo and Throh grapple with each other for several moments more, and from where I can stand I can see Reo's body quivering with the effort of trying to get Throh off its feet. Reo lets up for just a moment to adjust his grip, and Throh seizes his chance – he picks Reo up off his feet and hurls him against the wall of the cage, which he collides with and slumps to the floor.

"Throh is in control!" JB calls. "Can Tyson capitalise on this situation?"

"Throh, squash it with a Body Slam!" Tyson orders, and Throh leaps into the air, preparing to allow gravity to pull it down onto Reo.

"Reo, get ready!" I call. "Force Palm it when it gets close!"

Though clearly damaged from his collision with the cage, Reo hears and understands me. He rolls over and stretches out his right palm to smack Throh right in the belly as it is about to hit him, sending Throh back into the air with enough force that he hits the cage roof and falls down to the floor. Reo jumps to his feet, still ready for more.

"Wow! That was incredible!" JD yells in excitement. "What's going to happen next in this unpredictable match-up?"

"Reo, Aura Sphere!" I cry, and Reo nods in understanding. He swivels his body to draw in energy, then fires the orb of force at Throh just as it gets back to his feet, sending him soaring across the arena once more. "Perfect! Now finish it off with another Force Palm!" I command.

"Throh, dodge it!" Tyson calls desperately, but Throh is too weak to dodge, and Reo's second strike makes contact with its head, sending it down to the mat in a slump.

The crowd explodes into a cacophony of noise: cheering, clapping and whistling, and I feel a huge grin spread across my face as I realise what this means.

"It's aaaaaaaaaaaall oooooooooooooooooooveeeeeeee r!" JD cries. "Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the match, earning himself a much-deserved Combat Badge: Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke Nooooooooooooooooooortoooooo ooooooon!"

The crowd cheer at this news, and on the other side of the ring, Tyson spits on the floor in disgust. The cage is raised back out of the way and I climb into the ring and cross over to Reo.

"You were awesome, Reo," I say with a smile. "Ever considered a career as a wrestler?"

"I'm happy with things the way they are, Luke," Reo tells me. "Maybe I'll consider it once you retire as a Pokémon Trainer."

I laugh at him. "Like that's ever gonna happen," and Reo chuckles back at me.

A few moments later, JD comes into the ring to present me with my Combat Badge: three concentric black hexagon shapes joined together by two small black horizontal lines underneath them. He raises my arm in victory and the crowd continues to cheer. I smile back at them, my trepidation from before the match all but forgotten. Is this what it's like to be treated like a star?

Is this how everyone will react to me when I become the Pokémon League Champion?


	21. Sabotage on the SPF Line!

**21.**

**SABOTAGE ON THE SPF LINE!**

The next morning I arrive at the Mimarar City train station fairly early. Now that I have my Combat Badge, I see no reason to stay in this town any longer, and I want to keep heading onwards whilst I'm on a roll. The next Gym is located in Creater Town which, conveniently enough, is only a forty-five minute train ride away through the desert that covers the majority of northern Silvari.

The train arrives after we have been waiting for it only a few minutes. I proceed onward and find a seat near the window, and Reo takes the seat opposite me. I can feel the little bundle of fur I have recently obtained quivering in my arms.

"Don't worry, Eevee," I reassure him. "No one's going to abandon you on the train this time."

"Vee…" Eevee murmurs, still uncertain.

After we have been going for a few minutes, a woman comes along the train selling guidebooks about Creater Town. I purchase one despite the ridiculously high price tag, wanting to get as much intelligence about the town, and particularly the Gym Leader, before we arrive.

"Anything interesting in there?" Reo asks me after a moment.

"Creater Town is one of the oldest settlements in Silvari," I read to him. "It was founded nearly two hundred years ago at the foot of Creation Mountain, the oldest known peak in the region. Though dormant for a long time, the peak's volcanic soil allowed the settlers to grow an abundance of fruit and vegetables to sell to travellers, and over time, the town began to prosper."

"So it's situated by a volcano, then," Reo summarises with a nod. "Keep going."

I skim through the rest of the text until I come to a paragraph that catches my attention. "The Creater Town Pokémon Gym was first opened twenty-seven years ago by Bernie Fewell, who still serves as Leader to this day. He is a much respected figure in the local community and his wisdom…etc etc etc… Ah! When he is not taking on challengers at the Gym, he spends his time inside Creation Mountain training his Fire-type Pokémon," I finish, looking up at Reo.

"So he's a user of the Fire-type?" Reo grimaces. "A pity. I don't match up overly well against Fire-type Pokémon."

"Well I can't say I'm really surprised," I say reasonably. "After all, he does live on the doorstep of a volcano. There're probably loads of Fire-type Pokémon around there…"

A smile crosses Reo's face. "You sound like you're hatching a plan there, young Luke," he says.

I shrug. "Well, I don't have a Fire-type Pokémon of my own yet. It'd probably be useful to catch one, don't you think?"

Before Reo can respond to this, the train suddenly slams on its brakes, filling the air with a deafening screeching noise and almost sending me clean out of my seat and onto the floor. Eevee gives a frightened whimpering noise and buries his face in my arms as the train slowly grinds to a halt.

I massage my aching ears and take a look around. "What's going on?" I wonder out loud. Looking around the cabin, I can see several of the other passengers surveying the surroundings with equal confusion, and several of them are muttering in frustration and checking their watches, clearly not wanting to be late for some appointment.

"Maybe we've broken down," Reo suggests, getting up to peer out of the window.

A voice speaks over the train's speaker system. "Ladies and gentlemen, we apologise for the delay. There seems to be an obstruction on the track ahead. Please remain in your seats while we investigate. We hope to be on our way again shortly." A click sounds as the intercom is switched off.

The confused muttering increases in volume. I turn to look at Reo with a slight feeling of unease. "What do they mean by 'an obstruction'? We're in the middle of the desert," I say, indicating the window, which shows the barren surroundings as far as the eye can see. "What could possibly be obstructing the line way out here?"

"I don't know…" Reo mutters, his brow furrowed. "I don't like this…"

"Vee…" Eevee squeaks, clearly in agreement.

"Don't worry about it Eevee," I try and reassure him. "They said we'll be going again in a minute. I'm sure it's nothing."

What happens next completely destroys that theory.

A huge explosion ripples through the carriage, sending it flying into the air clean off the tracks. The force of the explosion hurls me from my seat straight into the carriage roof where I bash my head against the ceiling; instinctively I reach up to nurse my injury, dropping Eevee at the same time, who falls to the floor and scurries away, terrified.

"Eevee, come back!" I cry as I drop to my seat. I try to run after him but another huge impact, this time from behind, sends me hurtling across the carriage and crashing down onto the floor. The thick black smoke that fills the air is choking, and through it I see no signs of Eevee. I strain my eyes, but still see nothing, and my vision seems to grow somewhat blurry. I cough heavily under the force of the smoke.

"Luke!"

Reo's voice sounds, and two strong arms lift me from the floor and pull me to my feet. Through the thick smoke I see his concerned face, barely three inches from my own.

"Come on, Luke, we have to get off this train," Reo says urgently. He takes my hand and leads me towards the end of the carriage, where he smashes the door open with a Force Palm. The heat from the desert air fills the room and the bright sunlight pierces through the smoke. Reo and I jump forward out into the open air, where I take several relieved breaths of the smoke-free air.

"What just happened?" I ask Reo once my lungs are clear of smoke.

"See for yourself," Reo says grimly, indicating the train. I look back towards it and gasp in horror. The entire front of the train has been torn apart, with all that remains a few twisted lumps of metal. The carriage that we were sitting in sits a few feet behind, off the rails but still upright, with the carriage behind that leaning against it, with the front half on the roof of ours. The remaining two carriages are still on the rails some distance behind; clearly they did not bear the brunt of the explosion, although there are still several dents and scorch marks on each one.

"Someone tried to blow up the train," Reo summarises, the grim tone still in his voice. "I don't know who, or why, but they've clearly caused a lot of damage. It would take someone completely insane to try a feat as bold as this in broad daylight."

I suddenly realise that something is missing. I look down at my arms, blackened by the smoke, in horror. "Eevee, where's Eevee?" I call urgently.

"You must have let go of him when the carriage was thrown off the rails," Reo reminds me. "He should still be around here somewhere."

"We've got to go look for him," I say, heading back towards the train's entrance, but Reo's strong arms hold me back.

"Hold it, Luke," he says urgently. "We can't go back in there now. That smoke would have us unconscious in an instant. We have to wait until it clears, then we can go and search for Eevee. I only hope he has found a way off the train and is hiding somewhere safe…"

I sigh and turn to face him. "OK, I understand. But we should at least try and get an inkling of what's going on. Come on, let's take a look around."

Reo and I proceed down the length of the train slowly and carefully, as though we expect another explosion to echo from within any time soon. As we pass by the tilted third carriage we stop and look towards the remaining two carriages that are still on the rails. A small crowd of scared-looking people is standing just to the left of the nearest carriage, the doors of which are open, and just inside them I can see a tall figure dressed in black leather, with a straight tower of bright red hair.

"Oh, no…" I whisper to myself.

"That's right, hand all your Pokémon to me," Reddic is saying to, I assume, the people still remaining in the carriage. "There's no reason for you to get hurt if you co-operate with our demands. Hand us your Pokémon, and you may leave the train before we destroy it."

One by one, the carriage's inhabitants exit the train past Reddic and join the crowd standing to the left. After a few minutes, Reddic gives a nod of satisfaction, turns and steps down, his arms full of Poké Balls. Instinctively I pull myself out of sight so that he cannot see me, but continue to listen to what is being said.

"Thank you so much for your kind donations," Reddic says in a sneering voice to the passengers of the train. "The Silvari Pokémon Force will put them to work at once. Who knows? When we eventually conquer the world, you might see your old Pokémon on the news someday as our accomplices!" He gives a cold laugh, which none of the crowd echo.

"Unbelievable…" Reo growls from beside me. "So it was Team SPF all this time."

"Sir!" A different voice sounds. "We've finished evacuating the other carriages and have collected all the Pokémon from the Trainers on board."

"Excellent," Reddic says. "Looks like we're done here then. Will one of you take these off my hands? I can't ride properly with my arms full of Poké Balls."

"Sir, what should we do with this one?" a third voice asks. "We found it cowering by the wreckage of the front carriage."

There is a pause. "It's a Pokémon, isn't it?" Reddic says eventually. "Chuck it in the sack with the others. You know our motto: we take all Silvari Pokémon, wild or trained."

"Yes sir!" the voice confirms. It is followed by a small, terrified cry.

"Vee!" the Pokémon cries out in fear.

I gasp out loud. "That's Eevee!" I cry, not troubling to keep my voice down. Without a second thought I jump out from my hiding place and run across to Reddic, who has just turned to leave.

"Hey!" I call to him. "Reddic!"

Reddic stops and turns to behold me, and upon seeing who it is his eyes fill with rage. "What?! You again! What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" I repeat incredulously. "What the heck are you guys doing here? Stealing other people's Pokémon, as usual?"

"Hmph! Why do you care? Can't you just leave us alone, just this once?" Reddic calls across to me, turning to leave again.

"No, I can't. Because, you see, that Eevee you've captured just so happens to be mine."

Reddic stops dead in his tracks and turns slowly to face me, a gleeful smile on his face. "It's yours?" he repeats, and I nod furiously. Reddic bursts into laughter. "Ahahahahaha! Fantastic! We have a hostage!" He grins at me evilly. "You won't dare to interfere with us now we have one of your own Pokémon, will you, Luke?"

"If that's honestly what you think, then you seriously don't understand what it means to care for your Pokémon," I retaliate. "If you take Eevee, it'll only make me more determined to chase after you to get him back."

Reddic gives another laugh. "You think so? We'll see if you still think that after I turn him over to my colleague."

"Your colleague?" I repeat. "Who's that?"

"Yoo-hoo! Up here, Lukey-boy!"

The blood in my veins runs cold for a moment as I recognise the slightly distorted, high-pitched singsong voice. I turn in its direction, and atop the nearest train carriage I see him: The Blue One, standing there proudly as though he's some kind of superhero.

The Blue One jumps down from the carriage roof, causing a great crashing noise as his metal armour collides with the desert floor. He straightens up and gives a maniacal laugh as he waves at me as though we are long-lost friends. "Long time no see, eh?"

"The Blue One," I mutter darkly. "What an undeniable pleasure to see you again."

"Oh, so you two know each other already?" Reddic says with a sneer. "That's good. Saves me the bother of introducing our inventor-in-chief here."

"And scientist! Your forgot scientist-in-chief, too!" The Blue One admonishes, waggling a finger irritatingly at Reddic.

"Yes, all right, scientist-in-chief too," Reddic adds, rolling his eyes, and The Blue One gives another silly giggle. Reddic turns his attention back to me. "The point is, you know what will happen if I turn your Eevee over to Blue, don't you?"

A shiver passes down my back. "What… What do you mean?" I ask worriedly.

The Blue One giggles yet again. "Such a cute Pokémon… Oh! The fun he and I could have together in my laboratory! So many different ways to make him squeal!"

"You wouldn't dare…" I say hoarsely.

"Well, whether or not I would or wouldn't dare rather depends on you," Reddic informs me. "I offer you a choice, Luke. Leave us alone and I will personally ensure that no harm comes to your Eevee. But if you try and resist us, then I will turn it over to Blue, to use for whatever purpose he sees fit." Another giggle from The Blue One, who rubs his metal-gloved hands together in delight. "Of course, we will be taking your Eevee either way."

This sentence strengthens my resolve, and I unclip a Poké Ball from my belt and lock eyes with Reddic determinedly. "I won't let you do that," I say to him.

"So you choose to resist then? Very well." Reddic turns to his underling. "Hand Eevee to Blue," he instructs, and the SPF member obligingly walks across and gives Eevee to The Blue One, who snuggles him close against his armour as though he is a pet, while Eevee squirms to get away.

"Hello, my darling!" The Blue One cries out in delight. "We're going to become such good friends, I just know it!" He holds Eevee up to his face, and even from my distance I can see his cold blue eyes staring at my Eevee with something of a hunger in them.

"You asked for this, Luke!" Reddic calls over to me. "Don't try and follow us, or it'll get all the worse for your Eevee!" He turns to The Blue One. "Come on, Blue, let's get out of here."

"Oh, dear Reddic, I can't do that!" The Blue One cries, lowering Eevee and looking at his fellow commander. "Where are your manners? Luke has challenged you to a Pokémon battle. Look, he has the Poké Ball in his hand right now! You can't deny him this opportunity to face you once more! Come now, be a good sport. Battle Luke for me, pretty please?"

Reddic glares at The Blue One. "That wasn't the plan…" he mumbles.

"Plans change," The Blue One says with a shrug. "Battle Luke, and if you win we'll go along with your plan. But if you refuse, then I'm afraid this little one will go right back to his owner, and you'll be the laughingstock of all Team SPF for backing down from a challenge against a child."

Reddic sighs deeply, eyes closed. "Fine, I'll battle him, if you're that desperate," he snaps, glaring at The Blue One once more. "I'm gonna get you back for this though, I hope you know that."

"Ooh, I shall await that day with great excitement!" The Blue One says with a giggle.

Reddic steps forward and unclips his own Poké Ball, facing off against me. "I hope you know this is totally against my better judgement," he informs me angrily. "It's only 'cause our leader values Blue's input so much that I'm doing this. If you beat me…then we'll give back all the Pokémon we stole."

"Oh, do we have to use that word?" The Blue One chips in from behind him. "Stealing… It sounds so dull. I prefer 'forcefully acquiring'. Much more dramatic."

Reddic chooses to ignore this remark, and we stare each other down a moment longer, before finally releasing our Pokémon at the same time.

"Go, Golbat!" Reddic calls.

"Come on out, Staravia!" I cry.

The two Flying Pokémon emerge and hover opposite each other, Reddic's enormous bat Pokémon facing off against my bird, who seems suddenly very small in comparison.

"Good luck, Luke," Reo encourages from beside me. "Under no circumstances can we let Eevee go to that maniac. There's no telling what he'll try and do to him…" He gives a shudder. Once again my partner's consuming fear of The Blue One surprises me, but I decide to save questioning him on this for a more suitable time.

"OK Staravia, get things going with a Quick Attack!" I order. Staravia darts at Golbat, striking it repeatedly.

"Golbat, Air Cutter!" Reddic calls, and Golbat begins to flap its wings, trying to blow Staravia away, but Staravia resists, flying against the current with all her might and drawing slowly closer and closer to Golbat.

"That's it, Staravia!" I encourage. "Now, Wing Attack it when you get close!"

"Golbat, Bite it!" Reddic orders, and Golbat opens its huge mouth ready to strike, but Staravia is quicker. She spreads her wings wide and strikes Golbat once with each one, buffeting it and knocking it to the ground.

"Now, finish it with a final Quick Attack!" I order, and Staravia dives down at Golbat, ramming her beak into its head and knocking it out.

"All right!" I cry in delight. "You were awesome, Staravia. Return."

"Rats," Reddic curses as he recalls his Golbat. "I don't believe this… But I'm not done yet!" He extracts his second, and final, Poké Ball. "I'll crush you with Golem! Gooooooooo!"

Reddic unleashes his Pokémon, which drops to the dusty floor with a thud. It appears to be an enormous, round rock with small arms, legs and a little head, which is glaring at me severely. I extract my Pokédex to get details on this tough-looking monster.

"Golem. The Megaton Pokémon. The evolved form of Graveler and Geodude's final evolutionary stage. Its boulder-like body is extremely hard. It can easily withstand dynamite blasts without damage."

"So that's what Graveler evolves into…" I summarise out loud. "In that case, why don't we have a rematch from Translucent Cave?" I select my second Poké Ball and throw it into battle opposite Golem. "Go, Swadloon!"

Swadloon emerges and sits opposite Golem: one ball-shaped Pokémon facing off against another, although mine is not as large.

"Ha! Easy! Golem, Rock Slide!" Reddic orders. Golem jumps into the air and comes crashing down onto the ground, causing several chunks of rock to rise into the air, which then hurtle towards Swadloon.

"Swadloon, use Protect!" I command, and Swadloon wraps his leafy coat around himself as the rocks collide, but they simply bounce off and cause no damage. "Great work! Now hit it with a Razor Leaf!"

Swadloon opens its leafy coat once more, and a flurry of razor-sharp leaves is blown forward from within. The leaves collide with Golem, slashing away at its shell, and although it can apparently repel dynamite blasts, the move seems to cause it great pain.

"Golem's super weak to Grass attacks!" Reo calls from beside me. "It can't take it!" Sure enough, once all the leaves have blown away, Golem's thick legs quiver, and it falls to the ground, unable to launch another attack.

"That's not possible…" Reddic murmurs. "Defeated in a single hit? But how?"

"Oh dear, Reddic, I think it's fair to say that you were totally annihilated there," The Blue One says, shaking his head. "What a shame. And I was so looking forward to spending some time with this delightful Eevee here."

"Hey, you're the one who decided to make up that stupid rule!" Reddic yells, wheeling around to stare at The Blue One angrily. "If it wasn't for your crazy schemes, we'd be long gone with these Pokémon by now!"

"Ah well, it's of no real importance," The Blue One says with a shrug. He kneels down and places Eevee on the ground, and he immediately scurries over to me. I pick him up and feel that he is still trembling.

"It's all right, Eevee, you're safe now," I say in relief, holding him close to me.

"What do you mean, no real importance?!" Reddic cries in outrage. "Do you remember who we are?" Reddic and his minions as one raise their right arm and place it across their chests to perform Reddic's salute, but in doing so, the minion with the sack drops it to the floor and it falls open, spilling Poké Balls everywhere.

Within seconds, the crowd from the carriage have rushed over and stampeded through the Team SPF villains, all fighting to regain their Pokémon. Amidst the confusion, I notice a shape rise from the crowd, and after a moment I recognise it as The Blue One, hovering above them astride his strange levitating blue metal Pokémon.

"Toodle-oo, Lukey-boy!" he jeers down at me. "I shall look forward to our next encounter!" Before I can even call a response back, his Pokémon has turned and is carrying him away into the distance, far from where we stand.

"Come on then guys, I think it's time to get out of here," I tell my Pokémon. "Come back, Swadloon." I attempt to recall Swadloon to his Poké Ball, but he turns to look at me, affronted for some reason, and the beam of light simply rebounds off. "Huh? What's going on?" I wonder. "That Golem didn't use Mean Look on Swadloon or something like that, did it?"

"I don't think so," Reo says, pointing at Swadloon. "Look."

I watch as Swadloon slowly begins to glow brighter and brighter, until finally his body is consumed by a bright light, which after a moment I recognise as the light of evolution. Swadloon's body grows slimmer and slimmer and he steadily gets taller until finally the light fades and I find myself looking, not at Swadloon, but at what I assume is his evolved form. The Pokémon stands on two spindly legs and is still yellow in colour and wrapped in leaves, but much taller and more elegant and graceful.

"Wow!" I cry out in excitement. I cross over to my new Pokémon, which is just a few inches shorter than me. "Hiya, buddy! What should I call you, then?" I point my Pokédex at the creature.

"Leavanny. The Nurturing Pokémon. The evolved form of Swadloon and Sewaddle's final evolutionary stage. It keeps its eggs warm with heat from fermenting leaves. It also uses leaves to make warm wrappings for Sewaddle."

"Leavanny…" I repeat. "That's so cool…" I replace my Pokédex in my pocket and pick up Leavanny's Poké Ball. "What do you think then, Leavanny? Are you ready to come back now?"

"Leavanny!" my new Pokémon cries happily, and I recall him back to the safety of his Poké Ball. I chuckle to myself and turn to Reo.

"So then, Reo, what do you think we should do next?" I ask him.

"Well… The line is totally blocked by that train wreckage. I doubt they'll clear that for another few days, weeks maybe. So the only way to get to Creater Town now would be…through the desert."

"Oh…" My excitement from Sewaddle's evolution begins to fade rapidly at the thought of having to trek through the desert on foot. "That doesn't sound fun… But we have to get to Creater Town somehow." I look down at Eevee, nestled comfortably in my arms and much more relaxed now that Team SPF are out of the picture. "What do you think, Eevee? Are you up for an adventure in the desert?"

"Eevee," Eevee chirrups, seeming unfazed either way.

I turn to Reo. "What about you, Reo? Are you up for this?"

Reo smiles and nods. "Of course I am. Lead on, my friend."

"OK…" I turn my glance forwards, my determination beginning to build. "Through the desert it is then. Onwards to Creater Town."


	22. Disaster in the Desert

**22.**

**DISASTER IN THE DESERT**

After several hours of following the train tracks deeper and deeper into the desert, with nothing but the endless sand and the rippling heat of the air in sight, my legs finally give way and I collapse to the floor, exhausted. Eevee jumps out of my arms and stands on the ground beside me, and Reo kneels down and beholds me concernedly.

"Are you all right, Luke?" he asks.

"I'm just tired, Reo," I tell him. "There has to be somewhere in this desert we can rest from the heat. I seriously can't take much more of this."

"I'm not too sure there will be," Reo says sadly. "The harshness of the Northern Silvari desert is well-documented. It's why they chose to build a railway here to stop people from having to trek through it." He pauses for a moment. "I don't suppose you still have the guidebook you bought on the train, do you?"

"No," I answer, realising that my hard-earned money went to waste on that after all. "That's another thing Team SPF took from me."

"Eevee…" Eevee murmurs from beside me, and I turn to him and smile encouragingly.

"Don't worry, Eevee. I'm not gonna let them do the same to you."

"Well then, what do you think we should do next?" Reo asks, taking a seat beside me on the baking sand. "We have no way of knowing how much further this desert will lead, and yet being out in the open so much isn't good either. You haven't had any water for hours. You're dehydrated, and you run the risk of getting sunstroke if we don't find shelter soon."

"Yeah, you're right… Hey, I've got an idea," I announce as a thought occurs to me. I reach for my belt and unclip one of my Poké Balls, before tossing it to the ground, where as usual it bursts open in a flash of light.

"Azu!" Azumarill says, initially seeming to be happy to get out of the ball for a while, though his expression soon alters on encountering the stifling heat of the desert air.

"Azumarill, can you splash some water on me? I'm dehydrated, and I need to kick-start my brain cells so we can work out a plan," I request.

"Azuuu!" Azumarill responds in delight. He sucks in a huge mouthful of air before looking skyward and exhaling a giant spurt of water, which descends to soak me, Reo, Eevee and Azumarill itself. The coldness of the water draws a stark contrast with the intensely hot air, but it is refreshing and I instantly feel that my energy and senses are revived.

"Wow, thanks Azumarill, that was great," I tell him gratefully. "Come back inside for now; I'll let you know when I need you again." Azumarill nods his agreement and I return him to his Poké Ball and reattach it to my belt. I climb to my feet and look around to see if I can gain any inclination of where we are supposed to be going. Something in the distance catches my eye.

"Hey, can you see that?" I ask Reo, pointing in the direction of the object.

"What?" Reo asks, squinting. "I can't see anything through the haze of this heat.

"There's definitely something over there," I say confidently. I strain my eyes to see if I can see a shape. "I'm not sure what it is, but it's definitely something different than sand and train tracks. I say we head towards it."

"Are you sure?" Reo asks, his voice uneasy. "We don't know what we're heading for, it could be anything. And that's out of the way, all over there. We might not be able to find our way back to these train tracks, and if we can't follow them then we really will be out in the open and, to put it bluntly, pretty screwed."

"Well what other choice do we have?"

"We know that the train goes all the way to Creater Town. If we follow the rails we'll end up there eventually."

"But how long is that gonna take?" I ask, exasperated. "It could be days for all we know. If that's shelter over there, then at least we'll have somewhere out of the sun to rest for a while and think up a more sensible plan."

Reo sighs in a defeated manner. "Fine then. We'll head towards this unknown object. I only hope you're right and it is somewhere to rest. I can't stand much more of this heat myself."

I look over at him, surprised and a tad worried. "Why didn't you say so? You sounded like you were all right."

Reo smiles at me. "I'm more concerned with looking after you, Luke. I know what you're like – you'll take unnecessary risks to protect us without stopping to think about yourself. Someone has to be there to look out for you."

I look away and scratch the back of my neck shyly. "I guess you're right…" After a moment I lean down and pick up Eevee in my arms again. "Come on then, let's go. Any sign of trouble and we follow our footprints back here and pick up where we left off, right?"

"Right," Reo confirms with a nod. "Lead on, my friend."

We press onwards towards the mystery object in the distance. Although the desert heat has not eased in the slightest, the fact that we now seem to be heading somewhere gives me greater confidence and determination, and it feels somewhat more bearable. I check my watch and realise with some surprise that it is already four-thirty in the afternoon. Have we really been walking all this time?

The sun starts to set as we draw closer to the object, yet still I have no idea what it could be. There seem to be several of them all dotted around, with a larger cluster in the middle. Finally we pass the first as the first half of the sun has just disappeared over the horizon, and the permeating heat has just started to lift a tad, and as I realise finally what it is, my heart sinks.

"Cacti," I cry in exasperation. "We walked all this way just for a bunch of cacti?!"

"I told you it was a risky plan…" Reo murmurs. I don't have the energy to think of anything to say to that. I feel completely deflated, and once again I slump down on the floor just a few metres away from the largest cluster of cacti.

"I can't believe we just came all the way out here for no reason…" I grumble.

"Well, there is one positive to come out of this," Reo says tentatively.

"What's that?"

"We can stop here for the night. Look at the angle of the sun; if we shelter behind this cacti cluster, we'll be shielded from the early morning rays when it rises tomorrow."

I look towards the setting sun for a moment, back the way we have just walked, and realise that he is right. "OK, I guess you're right." I straighten myself up and begin to unpack my sleeping bag. "Hey, Reo?" I say quietly.

"What is it, Luke?"

"Thanks for being the rational one in this partnership. I honestly don't know where I'd be without you."

Reo smiles back at me. "I'm glad to have been of service."

"Are you gonna be all right sleeping on the sand or do you wanna come back in your Poké Ball for a bit?"

"No, I'll be fine," Reo says, laying down on the sand and reclining comfortably. "The heat is not so bad now that sunset has arrived. It shall be quite pleasant, in fact."

"Eevee…"

I turn to look at him. "What's up, Eevee? Do you want to come in here with me tonight?"

"Eevee," Eevee replies with a nod.

"OK," I say to him as I unroll my sleeping bag and open it up. "In you get, buddy. I'll look after you." Eevee climbs in and I follow him, zipping up the sleeping bag tightly to make sure no wayward desert Pokémon can scuttle in during the night.

This thought makes me realise something, and I frown and sit up. "Say, Reo… I just noticed something. We haven't found any wild Pokémon in this desert."

"You're right," Reo agrees. "I've been wondering about that myself."

"Why do you suppose that could be?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think it's the heat though – there are plenty of Pokémon that thrive in high temperatures. There must be another reason. Perhaps the constant trains speeding through the area scared them off."

"Yeah, maybe you're right," I reply with a yawn. The sun has almost fully set now, and I am beginning to feel tired. "I guess we can wait until the morning to worry about it. Goodnight, Reo."

"Goodnight, Luke. Sleep well."

A couple of hours later, I am awoken by a strange scuttling sound. I open my eyes wearily, but can see nothing more than the midnight blue sky and the darkness all around. The scuttling noise sounds again, and I open my eyes fully this time. It sounds like something shuffling around on the sand somewhere around us. I hear what sounds like low conversation, and this thought unnerves me. I strain my eyes, but can't see anything through the deep darkness.

Carefully, so as not to disturb Eevee, who from what I can see is still asleep, I reach over and pick up one of my Poké Balls, which I open in a blinding flash of light, releasing my Kirlia. She looks as though she has just woken up, and stretches widely.

"Sorry to wake you, Kirlia," I whisper over to her, "but I need your help with something. Can you use Flash and light up the area around us? I think there's someone here."

"Kirl," Kirlia says quietly, and closes her eyes to concentrate. Her horns glow white, and above her head a glowing ball of light appears, hovering in the air a couple of feet above her head.

The light wakes up Reo, who rubs his eyes and shuffles his way to a sitting position. "What's going on?" he mumbles sleepily. My attentions, however, are focused on what is around us, and despite the heat of the desert, I feel my blood start to run cold.

The cacti cluster that was right next to us a mere few hours ago has vanished – or at least, that is how it first appears. Upon closer inspection, I can see a circle of the cacti surrounding us, except that they are no longer simple cacti. They have altered their forms into what now appear to be cactus creatures, with thick legs and arms and a strange triangular hat-like formation atop their heads. They each have a pair of gleaming yellow eyes and a sinister grin.

"What are they?" I wonder aloud, fearfully reaching for my Pokédex. I point it at one of the creatures and it pings and announces loudly:

"Cacturne. The Scarecrow Pokémon. The evolved form of Cacnea. It lives in deserts. It becomes active at night when it hunts for prey exhausted from the desert's heat."

"Sssh!" I say to the Pokédex, hoping against hope that the Cacturne may not have heard us, but the look on their faces banishes that theory. I watch them warily as they whisper to one another, occasionally taking a couple of scuffling steps closer.

"Luke, we have to do something. Now," Reo whispers over at me.

I watch the Cacturne a moment longer. "What type is Cacturne?" I whisper back to Reo.

"At a guess, probably Grass-type," Reo answers, "but you can't be thinking of…"

Before Reo has chance to finish, I jump to my feet, hoping to startle the Cacturne. "Hey! Cacturne! If you're looking at us as prey, then I'm sorry to say you'll be going hungry tonight!" I reach for my Poké Balls, selecting two of them, and hurl them to the ground. "Staravia! Leavanny! Attack together!"

My small bird Pokémon and my newly-evolved Bug Pokémon burst free of their capsules with a cry, and immediately head towards the nearest Cacturne and start to attack, but the Cacturne easily swat them aside. Not to be defeated so easily, my Pokémon get back up and launch another attack, but always with the same result.

"This isn't working," I call out. "Hold back for a moment, guys."

Obediently, my Pokémon stop their attack and watch their foes, waiting to see what happens next. I glance downward to see that Eevee is cowering inside my sleeping bag, well away from the conflict. I turn my attention back to the Cacturne, who are looking left and right at one another, as though planning something. Their expressions give me an instant ominous feeling.

Then, as one, the Cacturne open their dot-like mouths wider and lean forward. "Cacturne!" they cry together, before spewing out a torrent of sand that washes over us roughly and leaves us completely blind to what is going on.

"I can't see!" I cry out, shielding my eyes against the painful sand. Something whistles past my right ear and I duck instinctively. I hear a second something collide with flesh, and hear a cry of pain.

"Leav!" Something falls against me, and by squinting through the persistent sand I notice Leavanny, clearly in pain. I look up and see a sharp needle-like object fly towards Leavanny and strike him square in the chest, causing him to cry out once more.

"Leavanny's hurt!" I cry over the noise of the battle. "He's not gonna be able to take much more!"

"I can't see anything," Reo cries in frustration from somewhere to my left. "I don't know what's going on. Where's Staravia?"

"I don't know, I can't see her." A thought occurs to me. "Reo! Use your Aura Sphere attack! You said that never misses, right?"

There is silence from my left for a moment, before I hear the sounds of the energy orb building. Before I hear the telltale grunt of effort from Reo that tells me he has launched the attack, however, I hear one of the Cacturne fire another of their needles, and Reo cry out in pain.

"It's no good, Luke," Reo shouts over at me. "Their Pin Missile attacks are stopping me from building enough energy!"

"Then what are we going to do?" I cry out in desperation. "How can we fight anything through this Sandstorm?"

"Star!" I hear Staravia cry. A black and white blur swoops past my head and I spin around to watch it as it collides with a Cacturne that had crept up behind me, hitting it right between the eyes. The Cacturne cries out and staggers backwards, before collapsing onto the sand, knocked out.

"Whoa! What was that?!" I ask Staravia. "Was that…an Aerial Ace attack?"

"It looked like it from what I saw," Reo says. "I didn't know you'd taught Staravia that move, Luke."

Then it hits me. Of course! I bought all those TMs from the salesman way back in Beachpalm Town!

"In that case, we might have a shot at this," I say, my confidence beginning to build.

"But Luke, even with Aerial Ace, Staravia is still vastly outnumbered by these Cacturne," Reo calls over to me. "She doesn't stand a chance!"

"This is our only option," I say in desperation. "Staravia, just do your best. Aerial Ace attack, now!"

"Star!" Staravia cries, and darts across in the opposite direction. I hear the sound of another Cacturne fall as Staravia launches another attack.

"Yeah, that's it!" I encourage. "Keep at it, Staravia!"

By now, the remaining Cacturne have realised they have a more resilient foe to deal with, and have begun to blindly launch their Pin Missiles through the sandstorm. I duck as several shoot past my face and hope that Staravia is all right. I can hear her cry out as several of the missiles make contact with her, but still she keeps attacking. After a moment, she comes to a halt, hovering just in front of me. She looks exhausted.

"Staravia…" I say desperately. "Are you all right?"

"Star…" Staravia cries feebly. "…Staravia!" This time the cry is more forceful, as she drags herself upwards and launches another Aerial Ace.

"Staravia is determined, I'll give her that," Reo says, the pride clearly evidence in his voice.

"Yeah, but I don't know how much more she can last," I admit worriedly. "All the determination in the world won't save her from those Pin Missile attacks, and she's the only hope we have of getting out of this in one piece."

"All right Braviary, Whirlwind attack! Blow away that Sandstorm!"

The familiar voice that echoes from above is followed by an unfamiliar cry, which sounds like it comes from something large and fearsome. "Braaaaaave!" A strong gust of wind begins to blow, and the Sandstorm begins to thin out. I look upward and see a colossal bird Pokémon with a blue underbelly descending, and flapping its red-topped wings with all its might to blow the sand away. From its back, a figure dressed all in white leaps, landing on the sand beside me with a thud.

"Elliot!" I cry in amazement. "Boy, am I glad to see you!"

"We can do the whole catch-up thing later, Luke," Elliot says urgently. "Right now we need to take care of these Cacturne." He looks upward. "All right Braviary, that should be enough for now." The giant bird Pokémon above us gives another cry and stops flapping, descending to hover just in front of Elliot. Staravia looks at it for a moment, and Elliot's Pokémon offers her its wing for her to rest on. Staravia looks at it for a moment, then shakes her head.

"Staravia, what are you doing?" I ask in exasperation.

"Star! Star, Staravia!" she chirps over at me in annoyance.

"What?" I ask, looking over at Reo for translation.

"Staravia says she's not going to let Elliot and Braviary take all the credit," Reo informs me. "She says it's time you saw what she is truly capable of." This is followed by a gasp of surprise, and I look over at Staravia and see the reason. Her body is glowing brightly with the light of evolution, and I watch as it grows larger in all directions until finally her new form is ready. I look on, amazed, as my little bird Pokémon is unrecognisable from her former self. Her body is much larger and more powerful-looking, and she has a hook-like strand of feathers atop her head, almost like a hairstyle.

"Staraptor!" she cries defiantly.

"Whoa! That's awesome!" I cry out enthusiastically. "What should I call you?" I hold my Pokédex up to my new Pokémon for further details.

"Staraptor. The Predator Pokémon. The evolved form of Staravia and Starly's final evolutionary stage. It has a savage nature. It will courageously challenge foes that are much larger."

"Staravia must have felt that this was the right time to evolve," Reo says from near me. "She'll be much more powerful now she has reached her final stage."

Evidently the Cacturne have realised this as well, as they have begun to look distinctly worried, and some of them shuffle their feet nervously. This thought fills me with confidence.

"We've got them rattled. It's time to finish this. Staraptor, let's go! Use your Aerial Ace attack!"

From beside me, Elliot is also giving commands. "Braviary, Crush Claw attack!"

The two bird Pokémon set to work, Staraptor darting with her beak, Elliot's Pokémon using its massive talons. The circle of Cacturne begin to thin out, with many of them being knocked out by their two foes while others simply turn and flee as the battle begins to go less than favourably for them. Eventually there is only one left, and I can see that it's weakened.

"OK Staraptor, let's finish this!" I cry. "Use…"

"Wait, Luke!" Elliot calls out, reaching into his bag and extracting a Poké Ball. "Poké Ball, go!" He tosses the ball at the remaining Cacturne, and it collides with its triangular hat, sucking the Pokémon inside. The ball falls to the sand and wobbles a couple of times before finally becoming still.

With all the Cacturne defeated, the air suddenly feels very still and quiet. Staraptor has come to land on the sand in front of me, and we both watch as Elliot moves over and picks up the Poké Ball containing his latest Pokémon, a smile on his face.

"Excellent. That's another one to add to my collection." He pulls his Pokédex from his pocket, points it at the Poké Ball and presses a button, and the ball vanishes with a flash of light.

"What happened?" I ask him.

"Trainers can only carry six Pokémon at a time," Elliot reminds me. "I've just sent Cacturne to the storage system in the PC, where it'll stay until I decide I want to swap one of my current Pokémon with it." He turns to face me, and grins. "Long time no see, Luke."

"Tell me about it," I reply, my expression matching his. "Talk about a timely save. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I was coming to look for you," Elliot explains. "I thought you'd have made it to Creater Town by now, but when I asked around no one had seen you. When they told me that all the trains were cancelled because the line was blocked, I worried about how you'd get there, so Braviary and I came to look for you."

"Braviary?" I repeat, looking at Elliot's bird Pokémon. It gives a nod, and I point my own Pokédex at it for full details:

"Braviary. The Valiant Pokémon. The evolved form of Rufflet. They fight for their friends without any thought about danger to themselves. One can carry a car while flying."

"Awesome," I say, replacing my Pokédex in my pocket. "But why were you looking for me in the first place?"

"Well, like I said, I worried about how you'd make it to Creater Town without getting a train," Elliot explains. "So I came to give you this." He puts his hand into his pocket and pulls out a circular CD of a sky blue colour.

"What's that?"

"It's the hidden move Fly. It'll let you fly to any town or city in Silvari."

"Really? That's great!" I say enthusiastically, accepting the HM from Elliot.

"Of course, there are a couple of drawbacks," Elliot tells me. "For a start, you need a Flying Pokémon strong enough to carry you to use it." He smiles at me. "But now that you've got Staraptor, you don't need to worry about that."

I look over at my Staraptor, standing proudly on the sand next to Reo, watching me. I smile at her, and she seems to smile back.

"The other drawback is that usually you can only Fly to towns or cities you've already been to," Elliot says. "But because I've been to Creater Town, you and Staraptor can just follow behind me and Braviary. That way you can get there without having to trek through the rest of the desert."

"All right," I say enthusiastically. "Thanks, Elliot." I turn to Staraptor again. "Staraptor, now that you're strong enough, would you mind learning how to use Fly so that you can carry us to Creater Town?"

"Star!" Staraptor cries, and I take that as an acceptance. I affix the HM to her skull and watch as her body absorbs the move. "I guess you can forget Quick Attack now," I tell her. "Now that you can use Aerial Ace, you shouldn't need that one." Staraptor finishes absorbing the move and I remove the HM from her and Elliot accepts it back from me.

"OK then, this is the fun part," Elliot tells me with a grin. He climbs onto Braviary's back. "Ready when you are, Brave."

"Braaaaaaave!" his Pokémon cries, spreading its huge wings and taking off into the sky. I watch him go, awestruck, and am eager to try it myself. I turn to Reo, who I notice with mild surprise has packed my sleeping bag and things away for me during my conversation with Elliot.

"Reo, will you come back in your Poké Ball for a while? It'll be easier for Staraptor to carry me than both of us."

"Of course, Luke," Reo says, and I recall him and affix his seldom-used Poké Ball to my belt. Eevee crosses over to me and I pick him up in my arms, before climbing onto Staraptor's back as Elliot did with Braviary before me.

"Hold on tight, Eevee," I tell my Pokémon, before turning my attention to Staraptor. "All right, Staraptor, let's Fly!"

"Staaar!" Staraptor spreads her wings and takes off, and as I soar into the air a rush of adrenaline fills my body. It feels good to be finally back on track with my journey and heading towards my next Gym Battle; my next stepping stone on my mission to become the Pokémon League Champion.


End file.
